All in a Nott
by ArsenicAssassin
Summary: As the cousin of the infamous boy-who-lived as well as the niece of a 'pardoned' deatheater, it's clear to say that Thalia Nott's life was the definition of a disaster waiting to happen. Unable to look after one of her cousins, she focuses her attention on her other cousin, Theodore Nott until they reach Hogwarts where she finally meets her other cousin. Slowburn OCxDraco
1. Chapter 1

**Hi guys, so this is my first story on here - please try not to rip me to shreds, just imagine it instead if something is wrong, much appreciated. This story will hopefully be updated at least once a month, however, I am in year 13 (I think that means Senior year for you Americans) so I am very busy with my university applications and exams.**

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 **Chapter 1**

As the morning dawned on the first of November, there was a crack that disturbed the peace and silence in Godric Hollow.

The young woman that had suddenly appeared didn't hesitate before running towards the end of a lane that she had grown up on. As she reached the last house she halted in her steps whilst a sob ripped its way up her chest, the once beautiful cottage that was full to the brim of life only mere hours ago, stood destroyed - the roof of the home had obviously caved in and the upstairs windows had shattered, littering the garden with broken shards.

Just as she stepped towards the little wooden gate at the beginning of the garden, a man stumbled out of the front door, clutching something small in his arms.

"Charlie!" Exclaimed the man in a hoarse voice as he stumbled towards the young woman. But just before he reached her she stepped forward and held her arms out in a gesture for the little bundle that was nested in the crook of the man's arm.

"Siri-" She began to say before another sob tore its way through her lips. The man didn't pass the swaddle over to the woman - instead, he grabbed her with his spare arm and pulled her into a tight hug, careful not to squish the bundle between them. He held her tightly until she pulled back to look him intently in the eyes.

"Lily and James are they- are they gone?" She finally managed to choke out the question that she dreaded the answer to.

It seemed like the man couldn't bring himself to answer her for he turned his head away from her, fat tears rolling down his cheeks in synchronization to the woman. This seemed to be the wrong answer for the women as she tried to get out of the man's grasp to check for herself. Yet he wouldn't let her go. He had already suffered looking at the man he had claimed as a brother, he couldn't even begin to imagine what she would feel if she saw her twin's glassed over eyes as he stared into the empty abyss.

"Sirius, let me go, please! I need to see them. They can't be dead! He can't be dead!" Near the end of her plea, she began to shout hysterically. Her whole body shook as the grief took over her, she continued shaking her head in denial - surely she would've known that something bad was going to happen to her twin. She should've known, she could've helped. These words repeated in her head, circling her mind like vultures preying on her show of weakness. She would've been consumed by the guilt if it wasn't for Sirius grabbing her head and raising it to look at him.

"Charlie, Charlie! Look at me please," She could see in his eyes that he was also falling to pieces but was keeping it together for the time being. "Think of Harry, we're all he has left. Please, Charlie, don't break on me now." As he said this he slowly let go of Charlie making sure that she was able to support herself before drawing the bundle from out of the crook in his arm.

As Charlie peered down into the cloth, she noticed a pair of familiar emerald green eyes peer curiously back at her. She gently moved the blanket away from his face so she could get a better look at him, to reassure herself that he was safe and unharmed. Or mostly unharmed.

"Paddy, he's hurt." She rushed out as she grabbed a handkerchief from her pocket. She, ever so carefully, wiped the blood away from his forehead to reveal a lightning bolt shaped cut that was already beginning to scar over. She stared at it, confused for a moment before looking up at her friend.

"Paddy, I don't understand, the Fidelius charm- you were their secret keeper were you not?" She watched as shame and guilt flooded his grey irises before he looked away for a second time that evening.

"I was at the beginning," He confessed as he looked down at the little boy still clutched in his arm. "But we switched."

The confession caused Charlie to gasp in disbelief. "Why hadn't I been told?"

This caused Sirius to look up at the grieving woman. "It was Peter's idea, he said how, because of your brother-in-law, that telling you that we had switched would be extremely risky. You were originally our first choice after me but with Thalia, we didn't want to risk you. James especially didn't want anything happening to you. So we choose Peter." His eyes darkened then but just as he was going to explain more, they were interrupted.

"Charlie, Sirius'? Where's 'arry?" The giant man, who had joined the two, asked.

"He's right here Hagrid. We have him. Why do you ask?" Charlie replied as she looked at the baby in mention.

"Dumbledore has asked me to take 'arry to his aunt's." Replied the larger man as he looked down at the two of them. He took a step forward as if to come to grab Harry out of Sirius' arm but before he could take another step, Charlie pushed Sirius behind her and faced Hagrid.

"I am his aunt Hagrid, therefore you don't need to take him anywhere." She stated coldly as she glared at the man who she viewed as unwanted at the time.

The man paused whilst realizing his mistake. He coughed roughly. " I mean his Muggle aunt. Dumbledore- "

"Isn't related, nor in charge of my nephew's wellbeing, therefore, he will not make the decision, I will be. Lily and James," She choked on her twin's name for a second. "Made Sirius his godfather meaning that he is to look after Harry. Not Petunia."

Hagrid hesitated before pressing on with Dumbledore's orders. "Now Charlie, you mus' know that both of your family situations aren't ideal at the current moment. Perhaps Albus is just thinking about that. Maybe he wants 'arry to go to his other aunt's 'til everythin' has calmed down in the wizardin' world." He could see that the thought of leaving Harry was too painful to think about for either of the two young adults.

Sirius finally piped up. "Hagrid, I'm his godfather, Lily and James made me promise to look after Harry if anything were to happen to them. I'm not about to break that promise, not now."

"But Sirius, 'arry will be safer in the muggle world. If he stayed with you, he would be at risk with all the death eaters still at large." Sirius realized that Hagrid was making a good point, especially with Peter out there somewhere.

With a sigh, Sirius began to hand Harry over to the giant, only to be stopped by Charlie who had a hysterical glint to her eyes.

"Sirius! What are you doing? You know what Petunia is like!" She cried as she clutched onto his arm tightly.

"He'll only be there for a year at most until it's safe," Sirius begged her to understand but she was falling into hysteria again as she began shouting for him not to let Harry go. Just as she was beginning to try and pull Harry out of her best friend's arms, another crack broke through the argument.

They all turned towards the new man who was running towards them with a worried expression on his face.

"Charlie!" He shouted as he sprinted towards her. They collided as he brought her into a fierce hug. "I was so worried, I woke up and you were gone."

He pulled away from her as he noticed their company. He paled as he observed the house then looked towards the bundle in Sirius' arm, which now had a little tuft of black hair poking out of the top. He brought his wife back into another hug and kept her there as they began to explain what had happened. To Charlie's grief, her husband agreed with Sirius and Hagrid.

"Charlie, It'll only be for a year or two, just until everything has calmed down." His arms tightened around her - mostly to comfort her but also to hold her back as Sirius began to hand Harry over to Hagrid, a mournful yet determined expression plastered across his face.

"Hagrid take my bike, I won't be needing it anymore." He stated as he purposely avoided looking in the direction of the woman who was currently struggling to get out of her husband's hold.

Hagrid accepted the offer and turned to leave with Harry clutched in his hand.

"Sirius why?! He's your godson!" Screamed Charlie as tears began to roll down her cheeks in an ever-growing stream.

Sirius then turned towards her after watching Hagrid leave. "I need to find Peter and hand him straight to the Dementors, it's what he deserves." He then apparated away from Godric's Hollow just as everyone began to wake up.

The couple stood outside of the ruins of the once happy Potter home before the man left - half carrying to the woman - as the crowd began to gather.


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey again, I just wanted to update twice tonight because I feel the first chapter isn't long enough to get the story going. There's nothing of great importance happening in this chapter, just the building up of some backstory. Anyhow, please enjoy and review any compliments or** ** _constructive_** **criticism you may have.**

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 **Chapter 2**

 _10 years later,_

22nd June 1991.

Nott Manor was an extremely intimidating building; with grande rooms that contained hundreds of galleons worth of art and expansive gardens that were perfectly in order - not a tulip out of line. To most, they would avoid going to the house at all costs but to this eleven-year-old girl, she couldn't run up the driveway fast enough - for today was the day she saw her cousin for the first time in over a month.

When Theodore Nott was younger, he used to stayed behind with his mother whilst his father went away on business trips. But, when his mother suddenly passed away from sickness, he was henceforth brought along on the trips as his father deemed the rest of their current family a bad influence on his son.

According to Emmanuel Nott, his brother, Ezekiel Nott and his sister-in-law Charlotte Nott were a disgrace to the family, with their opinion on 'mudbloods' being the complete opposite of his, not to mention how they were against the entire Nott family in the last war. The only good thing about that side of his family was his niece, Thalia Nott, who he had been trying to raise 'properly' - under the nose of his brother - for years.

It was his niece that was currently rapping her knuckles on the large oak doors in a quick rapid succession - her untidy hair swishing around her. Her hazel eyes sparkled with glee at the thought of rejoining her cousin once more. Her appearance would obviously displease her uncle but she hadn't a care in the world at that moment in time; her cousin was back. The cousin that was pretty much her twin in every way but blood. Even then, it's pretty close.

The door suddenly swung open to reveal an old house elf by the name of Hupsie who had been working for the Nott family since Emmanuel and Ezekiel were young boys. The house elf wore a pristine white toga which matched the entire manor - not a speck of dust or dirt in sight.

Hupsie bowed deeply at the dark-haired girl whilst gesturing her to enter the grand building. Without pausing, Thalia thanked the house elf before sprinting upstairs to her cousin's room where she knew he would be located. To most, the manor would be like a maze to navigated but after many visits over the years, she knew the layout like it was the back of her hand.

Without knocking or being given permission to enter, Thalia burst into her cousin's bedroom - the door slamming against the wall from the force of the girl slamming into it at a sprint. Her cousin, Theodore Nott, spun around, his eyes widening in surprise before a mass slammed into him at a great momentum, knocking him to the floor. He let out a gasp in pain as his back hit the floor.

"Theo! I'm so glad you're back, how are you? How was it? What happened?" The small girl rushed to get up, pulling her cousin up with her. She glanced him up and down, wincing as he reached his arm back to check his head. "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you." She exclaimed loudly. Theo, once assured that his head hadn't cracked open, looked at the girl in front of him.

"Lia, your hair! My father is going to get angry if he sees you in this state - you know what he did last time." The girl in question just shrugged whilst running a hand through her hair trying to tame it. It only made it worse.

"He won't be that mad, he'll be glad to see me." She tried to comfort her cousin but he began to usher her towards his ensuite.

"No, he'll be furious. He's in a bad enough mood as it is. You should've seen how father shouted at Hupsie when she didn't open a door fast enough. I thought he was going to hit her." He started to hyperventilate at the thought of his father hitting his baby cousin - his twin. "You need to sort it out before he realizes you're here. I'll call Hupsie, she can help."

He pushed her towards the collection of hair products, panic clear in his eyes.

"Theo, calm dow-"

Theo snapped, "You don't get it! He'll hurt you! That's what he does if anything is less than perfect! Especially when he's in one of his moods. You're not exempt from that, nobody is." The fear and pain in his eyes caused Thalia to pause. She studied his face, then the rest of his body.

"... He's hurt you, hasn't he?" The blood drained from her cousin's already pale face. He stuttered before masking his face into a calm expression.

"No. But you need to look presentable at all times." He straightened his back and lifted his chin up as he said those words. The look on his face and his body language made his words seem forced which concerned Thalia. What had happened during this business trip?

"'Dor, what did he do to you?" She watched as he flinched before returning to his polite stance in front of her.

"Nothing to concern yourself with, dear cousin. You need to be concerning yourself over your hair. What happened to you? Were you dragged through a hedge backwards?"

"Forwards actually," She replied cheekily, "I was in the garden when I got told you were back." She brushed her hair as she spoke, obviously worried about her cousin and what would happen if she didn't.

Theo sighed before slowly enclosing his arms around her shoulders in a light hug. The movement was carefully planned out to reduce the aching in his back. Thalia gently put the brush back onto the table and reached her arm back to hold his arm - gently, as if any sudden movements would spook him.

"I won't tell anyone that I know. It can be our little secret, yeah?" He looked uncertain, even at her promise before he gradually nodded - agreeing to the newly made secret. Once he agreed, she grinned - all the problems now forgotten.

"So what did you get me? Where did you go?" She questioned quickly. If it wasn't for the fact that Theo had grown up with her, he feared he wouldn't have been able to understand her.

"Give me a second and I will tell you. We've got to make sure you look impeccable just in case my father comes to find you. I'm sure that Hupsie will have announced your arrival to him by now - she'll be wanting to avoid his temper as well." At the first sentence, Theo could see her roll her eyes before growing serious at his reasoning.

"Don't roll your eyes, cousin," He pinched her sharply on her arm. "You know my father thinks that is unbecoming of a pureblood lady."

"Good thing I'm not a lady then, huh?" She retorted angrily as she rubbed her arm to soothe the pain. Her cousin just shook his head in exasperation before moving towards the other door in his ensuite.

"You're so lucky that we share an ensuite so you can get changed in your room."

"What's wrong with my clothing?" Thalia looked down at her dress - it was similar to what she had been wearing all summer - a simple periwinkle summer dress with black pumps that she could run around in without worrying about tripping over the hem.

"Father will probably start demanding that you wear less childish clothing now that we are about to go to Hogwarts, I wouldn't be surprised to see your wardrobe suddenly filled with 'proper' dresses of the correct length that looks ladylike. I'm sure he has asked Lady Malfoy and Lady Zabini to go shopping for you."

Thalia groaned loudly. "Of course they would, any excuse to dress me up like a doll. Why couldn't they have daughters?"

Theo nudged her into her room whilst laughing. "You know in pureblood society, as long as you have a son to carry your family name, there's no point in risking another pregnancy in having a daughter."

She spun around to argue with him but paused when his laughter cut off abruptly.

"You are quite right son." Thalia's eyes widened before twirling around to face her uncle.

"Uncle!" She ran towards him about to throw her arms around him when he put a hand forward to stop her. She halted, suddenly unsure how to act.

"Little Thalia, look how you've grown!" He exclaimed happily before looking her over completely. His eyes grew stormy as he observed her appearance. Her hair was half brushed, her black flats were covered in mud while her dress had grass stains over it from messing around in the garden.

"My darling, why are you not dressed properly? Did your mother really let you outside looking like this?" He gestured all over her, tutting at her in a condescending way. "Obviously your mother isn't going to teach the pureblood customs of a lady."

Thalia opened her mouth to respond but her uncle just shh'd her. He began pacing furiously in her room making the cousins look at each other in fear. Theodore reached forward and pulled Thalia slightly behind him - prepared to take the brunt of the pain if need be. His father luckily didn't notice, too busy muttering to himself.

After 3 tense minutes in silence, Emmanuel looked up - his black eyes pining themselves on her.

"I have you this summer and the summer before your third year correct?" They nodded in unison before glancing at each other again - this time, however, the older man noticed them.

"Worried are you? What has my son been telling you, my darling?" His voice was drenched in sweetness and amusement but even a baby could hear the underlying darkness, his promise of anger and hidden violence if she did not answer the question correctly.

Thalia looked slightly down, coping Hupsie's actions of submission. "He hasn't told me anything yet, he told me to make myself more presentable before we spoke of your travels. In my excitement to see you again, I fear I did not make myself look acceptable enough. Please accept my apologies, Uncle, It was not my mother's fault but my own." This seemed to calm her uncle down to an extent - obviously believing that they had not spoken of his violence.

"I accept your apology but I must insist that your mother is at equal faults for not making sure that you are orderly before you left your home." Thalia conceded with a nod, her head still facing the floor. The felt a large hand grab her chin, forcing it upwards to look her uncle in the eye. He'd obviously moved Theo out of the way to get to her as her cousin now was stood a few feet to her right which his hands behind his back, his spine straight and his chin up.

"When you are out in public or someone is speaking to you, you will look up and keep your spine straight. Understood?" He roughly let go of her head, allowing her to nod her head again. "Say it, young lady, it is no good you moving that pretty little head of yours about."

"Yes, Uncle."

"You should only bow your head to your husband or the Dark Lord should he return. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Uncle."

"Good girl, now get changed into something more befitting of a lady, call Hupsie to help you. Theodore and I shall be in the library waiting for you." He turned around and walked out of the room. "Come Theodore."

They left Thalia alone in her room to her thoughts. She stood there, silently glaring at where her uncle had stood only moments before. _How dare he think she was going to follow the Dark Lord? Did her forget who her cousin was?_

It was equally bold of him to assume she would bow to her husband if she ever decided to get married. She knew that they lived in pureblood society where the girls were rarely married for love but still, her parents did not follow traditions so she didn't need to worry.

The crack of Hupsie arriving snapped her out of her thoughts. She was ushered into the ensuite where she washed her face and arms before sitting down and letting the elf brush her hair delicately before plaiting it into an elegant french plait.

Unfortunately for the elf and girl, she had inherited the Potter family hair, meaning that it was thick and untamable. This meant that brushing and plaiting it took longer than expected. This meant that Hupsie had to quickly choose a dress and shoes.

The end result left Thalia briskly walking toward the library in a dark green dress that reached the middle of her shin; It had a boat neckline that bared the top of her shoulders. Her thick braid of hair hung over her left shoulder originally but her fast pace left it to fall off her collarbone so it sat in the middle of her back.

She managed to get to the library only 30 minutes after her uncle and cousin.

"I apologise for making you wait so long, uncle." She quickly sat in the armchair closest to her cousin before smiling at her uncle.

He was obviously in a better mood than previously as he smiled back at her. It was his smile, so similar to her father's, that managed to trick the rest of the wizarding world into believing he was innocent and didn't follow the Dark Lord willingly. Yet, with that knowledge, Thalia didn't trust that smile - it meant that he was hiding something. Along with the fact that Theo reached for her hand as soon as she sat down, she worried that she had missed something whilst getting pampered by an old house-elf.

"It's fine, my darling. At least now you look proper for your station." Thalia could only hope her smile hadn't turned into a grimace at his words. _Her station? She wasn't the Minister of Magic._ Theo's hand squeezed hers in warning not to laugh so instead she just nodded. That was until she remembered her uncle's words from earlier.

"Thank you, uncle." He nodded his head (that hypocrite) at her in praise for her hasty change in action.

"Now, my darling, we have around an hour until Hupsie calls us for dinner. I believe you've been patient enough to deserve your present that Theodore and I have got you." Thalia sat up straighter and grinned at her family.

Her uncle passed her a small parcel that was wrapped in beautifully detailed golden wrapping paper with a silver pattern. She held it carefully, feeling the weight of it before finding the lining of the paper and gently unwrapping the present - hoping to save the beautiful paper. It took a few minutes of attentive work before an oak box was revealed.

She glanced at her cousin to see him already looking at her. He gestured her to open the present and as she looked at her uncle, she could see why. Her uncle was never a patient man, especially when it had something to do with getting a reaction out of something he was involved with. How he survived Wizengamot she would never know.

Heeding her cousin's advice, she opened the box to find a necklace and a ring situated in it. Both of them contained the Nott family crest which contained a Celtic knot all around the outside of the crest. She placed the ring on her right ring finger and asked Theo to put the necklace on her as well.

As she turned her back on her cousin, her uncle spoke.

"Your ring is for you to wear until you are engaged, then you are supposed to give it to Theodore should he have more than one child. Whereas, your necklace is for you to wear forever, so everyone knows what your house you were from before you were married."

 _Why is he so set on getting her married? Merlin's beard, they were only 11!_

"Thank you, uncle, I will always look after them." He smiled again at her gratitude, pleased that she wasn't arguing against all this mention of marriage.

"I must say that there was a reason for giving them to you now. You know that Theodore has had his ring for many years now but that is because he is the heir to this family whereas you are to marry into another pureblood family. The reason for giving them to you now is that there are only a few short months until you are both off to Hogwarts. I had thought of sending Theodore to Durmstang, however, I didn't want you to have to fend off all those your suitors by yourself." _Suitors?_ Thought Thalia, _Why is there so much talk about marriage and suitors?_

Her uncle continued. "I'm sure that your parents haven't spoken to you about suitors or marriage contracts, simply because their marriage was not formed from one. You are very fortunate that your mother was a pureblood, even a blood traitor of a pureblood is better than mudblood." He spat the word mudblood as if the name itself was a disease.

"I know that your father will probably not accept a marriage contract unless you and I speak to him about it. But this doesn't mean that you should act like they don't exist. You are most likely going to be in Slytherin unless your mother's blood is more dominant than I thought.

This means that you will be around proper lords and ladies so you should conduct yourself as such. Don't ever deny an escort but make sure that you have a chaperone. The Nott family name is dependent on how you two conduct yourselves whilst at Hogwarts. While we aren't the most sought after family, we are still pure and well off, meaning you will probably have plenty of suitors. I hope you find a good match whilst at Hogwarts - both of you." He stared intently at the cousins. He looked expectant which caused them both of them to give hurried replies.

"Of course Father, I will make sure to escort her, should I feel that the suitor is unworthy." This caused Emmanuel to nod in approval.

"I hope so too, Uncle." Thalia's reply obviously was too vague for her uncle causing him to raise his eyebrow at her. She hesitated before responding.

"I just don't understand why we would be thinking about this during our first year. Shouldn't all the courting happen, say, in our fifth year when we are all older?" Her uncle closed his eyes and sighed.

"Age doesn't matter in our society, my darling. I was a good ten years older than Theodore's mother, this means that you may be courted by someone in their seventh year."

"And I am expected to let them escort me?" She exclaimed while beginning to rise up in her seat.

"Yes. You will let them escort you and you will be pleasant and ladylike towards all of them. I don't care how ugly or cruel they are - If they are pureblood and wealthy then you accept. You'll have to depend on your cousin to decide on who he thinks is worthy of your affections." He paused before glaring menacingly at Theo. "I will know if you are denying all of her suitors. Ezekiel may be useless but I'll be damned before I let him or his family destroy the family reputation - that includes both of you."

After that tense warning, the conversation came to an end as Hupsie popped into the library to tell them that dinner was served.

The dinner was a relatively quiet affair - ending abruptly when Emmanuel was called to the Malfoy's for an unknown meeting. This left Thalia and Theo alone in the manor. But, before he had left, he ordered them to be in bed asleep for when he came back.

As they walked towards their rooms, Thalia wrapped her arm around Theo's shoulders which, because of the height difference between the two, left her walking along to corridor on her tiptoes.

"'Lia?"

"Yeah 'Dor?"

"I know you don't like all that suitor stuff my father was going on about and I know that you don't like the reasoning behind your present. I tried to tell him, I did, I promise..." He trailed off causing Thalia to look up at him. The faraway look in his eyes gave him away.

"Is that why he hit you? Because you questioned his decisions?"

"Yeah, he said that if I couldn't agree with him it meant that your parents' views had got to be and he needed to knock them out of me before they became permanent." He shrugged, trying to act nonchalant about it but Thalia was horrified.

"He beat you because you didn't agree with him?" Tears brimmed in her eyes at the fact that her cousin, her _twin_ , got beaten by his father over her.

"You shouldn't have said anything. Presents aren't everything to me - I'd rather you be safe." He turned to face her after that, grabbing her shoulders and lowering his head to look her dead in the eye.

"It doesn't matter anymore, I've learnt my lesson. I won't do it again - not over a present. But if he goes to strike you, I will stand in front of you and take it." He shook his head. "That's not why I mentioned it; I meant to say that I've got a different present for you."

With that he carried on walking on to his room, leaving a frozen Thalia in the middle of the corridor. She suddenly realised he wasn't standing in front of her anymore and ran after him. When they entered his room he told her to sit on his bed and close her eyes.

She moved to the middle of his bed, sitting with her legs crossed and one of his pillows clutched to her chest. She heard a drawer opening and closing before listening to him chuckle.

"When I said to sit on my bed, I meant at the edge of it, 'Lia." Her cheeks flamed up as she shuffled to the side of the bed. However, with her eyes closed, she couldn't tell where the edge of the bed was and ended up flat on her face on the floor with Theo laughing his head off.

"Thanks for the help!" She huffed as she stood back up and looked in the direction she thought he was in. It wasn't until he grabbed her shoulders and turned her around gently, that she suddenly realised she must have been facing a wall or empty space.

"Not a word, cousin."

"Of course." With his sarcasm as his reply, she opened her eyes to see him standing in front of her smirking.

"You weren't supposed to look but never mind." He sighed, but she wasn't interested.

"So where is my present?"

He pointed to himself. "Am I not a good enough present?" His smirk turned into a grin at her angry glare.

"Okay, okay. Here you go."

In his hand was a tiny animal. It wasn't until he moved towards the window that she realised what it was.

"Merlin's beard, It's a mooncalf!" She exclaimed as she came over to cuddle it.

"Not quite, It's a miniature version, you can get them in France. You can get just about any animal in miniature. Unless, of course, it's already small, like a bowtruckle." It appeared that his words weren't registering with his cousin who was busy cooing over the little animal.

"They like to burrow in places of warm during the day so your trunk at school should be fine. It's just in case, you need somebody to talk to and I'm not there." At this, she squealed and hugged him tightly, causing him to flinch at the pain.

"Careful cousin, I still have a bruised back." She instantly let go and looked at him in guilt. But he waved her off.

"Don't apologise, It's not your fault. More importantly, what are you going to name him?"

"Felix. After Felix Felicis because he's going to be my little lucky charm." The cheesiness of the name made Theo burst into laughter before saying hello to little Felix.

They spent a little while going over how to care for him and how to keep him hidden from Emmanuel before heading off to bed. Making sure that Felix was safely tucked away and couldn't be seen by her uncle.

That night, Thalia slept facing the window with her little mooncalf curled by her side, burrowed under the blankets.


	3. Chapter 3

**I know, I know, It hasn't been a week and she's already updating but I just wanted to get this bit out so I didn't forget it. Thank you to The Gryffindor Demigod for reviewing and thank you to everyone for favouriting or following this story! To know this story is liked makes me really happy. Anyhow, please leave a review, positive or slightly negative, and enjoy.**

 **I forgot to do a disclaimer so everything or everyone you recognise is JK Rowlings, the rest is mine. :)**

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 **Chapter 3**

31st July 1991.

It'd been just over a month since Thalia began her holiday around her uncle's and already she could tell there was a difference between this visit and the previous ones. For example, her and Theo spent most of their days either with a tutor learning the basics about what they will be learning in the year to come or a tutor teaching them etiquette skills. Thalia was forced to spend even longer with that hag as she had to learn how to be 'ladylike' overnight. _Apparently_ , it wasn't becoming of her to do anything fun, such as play Quidditch.

On the odd day that they weren't learning something, they would be going on social outings or looking after guests in the manor. The majority of these guests would be in the same social circle as her uncle - Lord and Lady Malfoy, Lord and Lady Greengrass and Lady Zabini were just a few who would grace their presence at the manor at a regular basis. They would all bring their children who would then have to be entertained by Thalia and Theo whilst the adults discussed 'business'. The idea was for their children to form friendships or allies that they could then use during their time at Hogwarts and into the working world afterwards.

In Thalia's opinion, they weren't terrible. Alright, Blaise and Draco would constantly compare whatever they'd just been bought by their parents. Vincent and Greg both had learning difficulties; Vince had severe dyslexia whilst Greg suffered from ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) which caused them both to struggle in their academics and become introverted around people. Pansy and Daphne mostly gossiped about the latest fashion while Millicent was more an animal lover than a people person.

But each of them had redeeming qualities; Blaise could tell amazing jokes, Draco was exceptionally loyal, Vince could talk for hours about baking and his artistic talents, Greg was amazing at gardening, Pansy could throw a quaffle through a hoop from the ground, Daphne was a brilliant dueller and Millie could recite facts about any creature you mentioned. Yet, none of the parents appreciated those facts, except maybe Narcissa Malfoy, Ezramelda Zabini and Thalia's parents.

However, to avoid her uncle getting excited about marriage contracts, Thalia mostly avoided the boys. Sure if the adults weren't there, they all got along fine - nobody mentioned their political views or argued what they thought of other people. Blaise and Thalia had already agreed that they were never going to make a marriage contract between them as they both viewed each other as honorary family.

Although, if Blaise's mother wanted him to marry and her uncle was about to marry her off to someone she hated, they made a blood oath that they would marry each other to avoid a terrible fate. Luckily for them, her uncle had to get through her parents first - more specifically her father - as it was the man of the family's job to form the marriage contract in this lovely patriarchal society.

Unfortunately for Thalia, it was one of those days where every pureblood child from the sacred 28 families that were her age, were coming to the manor for dancing lessons. It didn't matter to her uncle if it was her cousin's eleventh birthday. Not even her mother seemed to be able to get her out of this torture. Even though that didn't stop her from trying.

*Flashback*

 _"What do you mean Emmanuel? It's her cousin's birthday today! He turns eleven, she should at least get to meet him for the first time." Her mother sounded pissed off as she stormed through the manor after her brother-in-law who was trying to get away from the woman he detested._

 _"Didn't the great Albus Dumbledore say that you had plenty of time to see him? Surely that means that you can go see him another time where Thalia doesn't have to miss her dancing lessons?" Her uncle drawled his words and ended with a sneer, proving that his polite mask was slipping and he was getting angry._

 _"I've waited ten years to see him! How would you like it, not seeing Thalia for ten years after your brother and I were murdered?"_

 _"Good thing you haven't been murdered then, isn't it?" Even Thalia gasped at that retort, thinking he had taken it too far._

 _Her mother obviously thought the same, for she turned to grab her daughter's arm. Before she even took a step away from Emmanuel, he smirked and said._

 _"If you take her without my permission, you'll be breaking the contract we made after my wife's last wish. Do you really want to stop seeing Theodore as well as being unable to see Harrison?" Thalia could see tears running down her mother's cheeks as she let go off her arm, faced the elder Nott, her face as white as a ghost._

 _She seemed at a loss for words as she stared at him. She watched as he walked closer, stopping when he could reach Thalia before pulling the little girl behind him. He leant forward and whispered something in her mother's ear but Thalia couldn't hear what was spoken._ _She knew that it probably wasn't very kind as a fire was sparked in her mother's previously shattered eyes._

 _Thalia watched as her mother mouthed 'I love you' to her, before spinning and walking out of the manor. Her uncle watched until she completely left their sight before sighing and walking away. Leaving the girl to stand in shock at what had occurred._

*End Flashback*

It had taken Theo passing her Felix and giving her a one-armed hug for her to snap out of her momentary paralysis. He led her to her room and sat her down on her bed, waiting patiently for her to snap out of it. When she had finally told him everything and he expressed his own shock at the entire situation, did she realise they only had ten minutes until everyone else had arrived for the lesson.

They rushed to find their ballgowns and suits - yes, they were forced to practice in them because that was supposed to make them find it easier to do at an actual ball. Thalia ended up wearing a simple full-length gown that was the colour of a stormy ocean - a sort of mixture of blues, greens and greys. Her hair was already in a tight bun from when Hupsie had got her ready for departure this morning at her mother's insistence.

She looked jealously at Theo who was in a simple black 3-piece suit with a dark emerald vest which looked easy to move in, especially with his two-toned oxfords. Theo held out his arm to escort her - it was more there to prevent her from falling in her stupid heels - and she accepted, placing her hand in the crook of his elbow. As they left, she turned to Felix and told him to behave, but he was already fast asleep.

As they walked towards the ballroom, they could hear the faint hum of voices, suggesting that some people had already arrived. They opened the door and spotted Blaise, Daphne and Pansy already talking together in the centre of the room with Lord Greengrass, Astoria and Thalia's uncle speaking to the Dancing instructor. It was supposed to be everyone in their year group that was in their social group but Astoria had joined them to balance out the boys and girls. Theo led Thalia over to their friends where she was quickly swamped by Pansy, Daphne and Astoria who had joined them. As the girls started discussing who's dresses came from where and wondering what they'd be learning today - much to the distaste of Thalia - Theo and Blaise were talking in hushed whispers.

When the girls finally stopped _gossiping_ , for lack of the better word, they suddenly noticed that Millie, Vince and Greg had arrived and that they were now only waiting for Draco.

At this realisation, Thalia rolled her eyes, only to be pinched by her cousin who glanced at her and then his father in warning. _Of course, Malfoy was the last one to arrive_ , Thalia thought, _He's so dramatic, she wouldn't be surprised if he turned up with the Minister or Magic and a few of his albino peacocks._

Just as Lord Greengrass was finishing his in-depth conversation with her uncle, Hupsie opened the oak doors and announced the arrival of the Malfoys.

"I apologise for our tardiness, we were just in Diagon Alley getting Draco's school equipment and wand. No matter how much we hurried everyone, we were still made to wait whilst Madame Malkins sorted out this skinny little boy." Lucius Malfoy's tone was mildly annoyed; probably over the fact that they were made to wait like regular customers. Thalia wanted to roll her eyes again but thought that she'd draw too much attention to herself.

"There was also the fact that the Leaky Cauldron was full and buzzing with people. Apparently, that oaf of a gamekeeper had brought Harry Potter to do his shopping and that needed a fanfare. We couldn't get to the fireplace soon enough with all that nattering going on." Narcissa didn't seem angry at the fact that Harry, _her cousin Harry_ , was going to Diagon Alley today. She mostly seemed in pain, with her eyes squinting at the smallest hint of light. It was then Thalia realised that Lucius wasn't annoyed at her cousin but at the fact that all the gossiping in that pub had left his wife with a headache.

Nonetheless, Thalia was still infuriated with her uncle. _Draco had gone to Diagon Alley and possibly seen her cousin and he still made it in time for these stupid dance lessons. Why couldn't she have gone with her mother?_

"We've made you wait long enough, we shall take our leave and allow you to start the dancing." With the grace of a thousand swans, the Malfoy lord and lady glided out of the room. Emmanuel then went and sat down at the small luncheon table that Hupsie had brought up for him and Madame Rosier, their dancing instructor. He preferred to watch the lessons, probably to see who worked best with his son and niece as well as to make sure they didn't mess up and 'disgrace' the Nott reputation. Thalia was certain if Theo messed up then he would be punished later on so she promised herself that if he made a mistake, she'd distract her uncle, how, she wasn't really sure.

"We will be reviewing your work on the waltz today." The waltz? They'd learnt the waltz at the start of the holiday. It seemed that everyone was disgruntled with this fact, with the exception of Daphne who truly loved dancing. However, it seemed that no one but Thalia was going to voice it.

"But we finished the waltz a month ago, why do we need to review it again?" Her question had brought the attention of her uncle but she hadn't realised as she was focused intently on Madame Rosier.

"It's best to revisit what we have learnt so we don't forget." Madame Rosier smiled at the girl, obviously trying to appease her but Thalia wasn't content. She'd got frustrated enough that she decided to test her luck on her uncle.

"First, you decline my mother's request to take me to see my cousin for the first time. Your argument was that I would miss my dance lesson yet Draco went to Diagon Alley and managed to get here in time for the lesson. Now I find out that this lesson isn't even important-" She was cut off when her face was hit with a heavy force, she fell to the ground where she kneeled frozen for a few seconds. Her cousin rushed over and cradled her face, making her flinch in pain. Her hair had mostly fallen out of the bun it was previously secured in, leaving her thick dark hair to cover her face. She looked up at where the blow had come from to see her uncle standing there with a red face.

"Don't question me again. Do you understand?" She looked down at her hand covered her inflamed cheek, ignoring her cousin who was trying to check it over.

"Yes, uncle." Her words were barely above a whisper but they seemed to appease her uncle who then turned to the rest of the room, all of them were stood in silence watching the scene in front of them. He apologised for the disruption before telling them to continue with the lesson. As he turned to sit down, Madame Rosier glanced at the still kneeling cousins before proceeding with what she was saying.

"As I was saying, we will be dancing in these pairs." With a wave of her wand, silver ribbons shot into the air to form names;

Daphne Greengrass - Blaise Zabini

Millicent Bulstrode - Gregory Goyle

Pansy Parkinson - Theodore Nott

Thalia Nott - Draco Malfoy

Astoria Greengrass - Vincent Crabbe

Thalia stood with the help of her cousin and walked slowly over to Draco. He turned to her a gave her a small smile, obviously trying to cheer her up without saying words. He gently took her right hand in his while placing his right hand on her back. Nobody spoke as they began dancing, keeping to the beat with Madame Rosier's continuous counting.

"One, two, three, four..." After she was sure that nobody was making any mistakes, Madame Rosie turned to the gramophone and began planning an orchestral piece that was, apparently, designed for the waltz.

"One, two, three, four..." As Thalia and Draco danced around the room, she noticed that he would glance subtly towards her cheek that must have been beginning to swell.

"I'm sorry he hit you." This caused Thalia to look up from where she'd been hanging her head in shame.

"One, two, three, four..."

She looked him dead in the eyes, her brown eyes filled with confusion. "Why are you saying sorry? You did nothing."

"One, two, three, four..."

"Exactly, I could have at least tried to help you. I wish you weren't stuck dancing with me, you should be getting ice for your cheek, not dancing." As he whispered his opinion, Thalia's eyes grew wide in wonder. _Did all the other families disagree with hitting their children?_

"One, two, three, four..."

Seeing the question that was clearly spread over her face, Draco sighed and looked away from her cheek. He took a moment to raise their raised hand higher before murmuring.

"We get hit if we really mess up but never that violently. Especially not over something like that." He did think it was wrong! Maybe he could get his father to tell her uncle not to hit them.

"Could you get your father to tell my uncle to stop?"

"One, two, three, four..."

Draco shook his head slightly, not enough to draw attention to them.

"No. It's rude to interrupt family affairs unless there was something that made the person interrupting part of the family. That doesn't happen unless blood adoption occurs or a marriage contract was made." Understanding dawned on Thalia. There was nothing anyone could do, her parents couldn't even do anything because of that godforsaken contract.

"One, two, three, four..."

"So you're saying, I'd have to get my father to agree to a marriage contract before Theo and I even have a hope of not being hit?" Before Draco could answer, the symphony ended leaving the room too quiet for this form of conversation.

They let go of each other and stepped back when they realised how close they had been standing. Thalia could've cursed herself, they were standing too close to be seen as anything but people who liked each other romantically, even the whispering didn't help. She could already imagine her uncle rejoicing at the utter jackpot he had seen in front of him. She had no doubt that if Emmanuel was her father instead of her uncle, she would have been betrothed to Draco before the sunset today - that was if Lucius agreed of course.

She could see the apology in the blonde's face as he looked at her - he obviously knew that he had accidentally caused a lot more problems for the girl.

"We can talk again next time," Draco whispered to her as he led her back to the others. She nodded subtly in agreement with the boy, all the while keeping her eyes focused on her uncle. He'd never hit her before and now she was hesitant as of how to act around him. _Is this how Theo feels constantly?_

Thalia dreaded the departure of the other children, she hated to think what her uncle would say to her about her behaviour. So, she watched in mild distress as the other children left the manor, Theo had his arm wrapped around her shoulder to comfort the girl but even he was tense.

Once the last child left, it was Blaise who had stayed to talk to Theo until his mother had to literally drag him away, the two cousins turned toward the lord of the manor. He was still talking to Madame Rosier but they knew better than to leave without his permission, apparently, Theo had learnt that on the business trip as well.

He spoke to the dancing instructor for another five minutes before dismissing her for the week. His gaze locked onto the two cousins who had waited in a tense silence.

"Thalia, my darling, come here please." Theo squeezed her shoulders in reassurance before detaching himself from the trembling girl. Thalia slowly approached her uncle with carefully measured footsteps. As she reached him, she looked up at the man only to have him grab her chin and force her to look to her left so that he could observe her now swollen cheek.

"That was for disagreeing with me in public." He spoke in a lowered tone that sent shivers down Thalia's spine. He had drawled out his words in a way that made her believe that he wasn't finished.

She was right.

He abruptly let go of her chin and snatched her arm. He began dragging her out of the ballroom and towards her bedroom. However, he didn't let go of her once they'd reached her bedroom as she'd expected. Instead, he ordered Theo - who had been trailing closely behind them - to open her closet door. Once the door was open, her uncle practically threw her in, making her lose her balance and fall to the floor. He then stood menacingly at the doorway of the closet, glaring down at the girl.

"This is your punishment for speaking against me at all. You will stay in here until I let you out, do you understand?"

She looked down to where her hands were resting - her palms had carpet-burn from where she'd fallen - her messy hair hanging around her head. "Yes, uncle."

Just before he shut the door, Thalia looked up to see her cousin's face. The look of frustration and sadness was clear in his eyes, she worried that he was going to do something stupid so she slowly shook her head and tried to warn him to stay clear. As he did nothing, she believed that she had got the point across so she didn't fight or make a noise when the darkness consumed her.

She could hear her uncle saying a spell, most likely one that would lock her in the closet before footsteps faded away. It was obvious that Emmanuel hadn't allowed Theo to stay with her as he didn't come to comfort her.

Thalia had never been scared of the dark, nor small spaces the ominous silence and the lack of her sight made her feel like she was chocking on something as panic began to clog her throat. She shuffled to the door and began to claw at it, hoping that it would somehow open and she'd be able to breathe again.

After a while, she stopped and turned to face the rest of the closet, to try and calm herself down, she thought of happy memories - Theo and her racing on broomsticks in her garden, her parents dancing on New Year's Eve, her dad running up to her and lifting her in the air after her first summer with her uncle. When she opened her eyes, she gasped because in front of her there were little flames that were reenacting the scenes she remembered. She watched as her mother and she found a small herd of unicorns whilst on holiday, a little golden foal coming up to them to say hello. The girl didn't know how long she'd been locked in for but she began to drift off, watching as the little flames danced in a circle for the last time before disappearing just as she closed her eyes.

* * *

Meanwhile, Harry had just had the best birthday of his whole life. He couldn't believe that _he_ was a wizard and that _he_ was famous and that his parents _hadn't_ died in a car crash.

Hagrid had been so friendly and took to explaining everything about the wizarding world but Harry couldn't help but think that something was up.

*Flashback*

 _Harry had shaken hands with everyone in the pub, more than once for some and Hagrid had finally stepped in to say that it was time that they go. It was then that Harry saw her._

 _The woman looked to be in her late twenties, early thirties. It confused Harry for a second because when he first looked at her, he thought he was looking into a mirror - except that it was a magical mirror that showed what someone would look like if they were the other gender... and older. She couldn't have been much taller than him, five foot five at most, and she had the same messy styled jet black hair. The only real difference between them (aside from the gender and age) was that her eyes were a brown. Also the fact that she had tears in her eyes and looked as if she'd seen a ghost._

 _The woman didn't approach immediately, she waited until Hagrid had started talking to Tom, the barkeeper, before walking towards him. She began to unnerve him as she got closer, her mouth still opened in what seemed to be astonishment, at least Harry hoped it was astonishment, he had got quite good at reading people's moods and body language. When she finally reached him, she gave him a small smile before leaning towards him._

 _"Hi Harry, I know you probably don't know who I am if I knew Petunia correctly. I will explain everything later but I need you to take this so I can find you, okay?" She passed him a small bracelet that had a little 'P' on it. He nodded and looked down to put it on his thin wrist._

 _"It has protection and location spells. It's something the Potters used to keep an eye on where their children were. I promise I will explain everything I can later but just promise me that you will take everything Hagrid says with a pinch of salt. Please, Harry." Her words had made him look up. How did she know about the Potters? Who even was she? He studied her a moment, the look of sincerity made him believe her so he nodded and whispered his promise._

 _She left quickly afterwards, not letting Hagrid see her, but she also left plenty of questions stirring in his mind._

*End Flashback*

The interaction had occurred so fast that it had left Harry's head spinning. When she said she knew Petunia, his aunt Petunia, he was shocked. He was even more shocked when she mentioned his family, so he couldn't wait for her to come and see him. Her use of the word 'later' worried him, would it be today? Or next week? He didn't know and so he waited patiently, hoping that she would explain everything today.

A knock on number 4, Privet Drive's door left Harry running for it, only to be pushed aside by Aunt Petunia. As the thin woman answered the door, she gasped before trying to shut it again. Her actions were ruined when a foot was caught in the door, not allowing it to be shut.

"Tunie, aren't you going to let your guest in?" A voice sang from outside. Harry's heart leapt in his throat - it was _her_ , the lady from the Leaky Cauldron.

"Your kind aren't welcomed here." Hissed Petunia, still trying to shut the door, foot be damned.

"Yes, well I worked that out by Harry's appearance." The lady's cold words made Petunia snapped her head round to look at Harry, her face pasty white. Her hold slackened on the door, allowing the stranger to push open the door and stroll in.

"Hi Harry, told you that I'd explain later." The stranger smiled at him and he gave a nervous smile back at her. This caused her to laugh loudly, causing Petunia to jump.

"You do look like James when you smile like that, he always did that smile when he got caught doing something wrong." This left Harry flabbergasted, she knew his dad?

"You knew my dad?" His question made her roll her eyes in annoyance but she still grinned at him.

"If Tunie did a better job, you would've known that I knew your dad better than anyone."

"Were you his best friend?" At this Petunia gave a shrill laugh from beside the door.

"Friend? This is your father's sister. The aunt that didn't want you." Her words cut Harry deeply but they seemed to anger the strange woman - or should he say his aunt. She turned to The taller woman and bore her teeth in a sort of savage grin.

"Ah sister-in-law, you love me really. Shall we take this into the lounge and sit down like civilised people. You can see, I took your need for normalcy into account and dressed like a muggle." Harry was impressed, not many people spoke to his aunt like that. Petunia also seemed shocked by her words but quickly nodded and with her lips pursed into a sharp line, she led the pair into her lounge.

The stranger beckoned Harry to sit next to her whilst Petunia sat in the armchair the other side of the room.

"Harry, let me introduce myself, I'm Charlotte Nott and I'm your father's twin sister. Although he was older by 6 minutes," She seemed to scowl at that small fact before she shook her head. "Any questions so far?"

Harry nodded. "If you're magical, why didn't I stay with you?" At this, Charlotte sighed.

"I knew you were going to ask that first, the answer is Dumbledore." How could Dumbledore prevent Harry from living with her? It seemed she realised that this would be his next question.

"After your parents were... killed, Dumbledore ordered Hagrid to bring you to Petunia's. However, your godfather and I were already at Godric's Hollow with you when he arrived. I wanted you to live with either your godfather or I but Hagrid and Dumbledore argued, they said that it was unsafe to live with me and Sirius had to go do something." She looked towards Petunia as if to tell her to carry on with the story.

"Charlotte had sent a letter after you arrived, saying that it would only be for a year or two, just until your world became less dangerous. But that didn't go to plan."

Charlotte continued. "Something happened which meant that Sirius wasn't able to look after you anymore," She hesitated, "And after a year I believe that it had calmed down enough that you could come live with me. The reason it is Dumbledore's fault that you are living here is that only he, Professor McGonagall and Hagrid knew where Petunia lived. Dumbledore wouldn't tell me where to come to find you and that the blood ward would prevent anyone from knowing where you lived until you reached 17."

Harry was silent. _Hagrid had only spoken of how great Dumbledore was, not that he'd kept Harry away from a loving aunt. What even was a blood ward?_

"What's a blood ward? Why did he not want me living with you? Why couldn't I live with you? What happened to Sirius?" The questions seemed to be never-ending and eventually, Charlotte placed a hand over his mouth to stop him.

"And breathe, Harrison." He sucked in a breathe and stayed silent, hoping that she'd answer his questions. Which she did.

"A blood ward is a piece of protection formed of runes that involve the blood of the person you are planning to protect. They only work if the person you are planning to protect shares similar blood to whom they are living with. Hence Petunia or I would've have been chosen." As she paused for a breath, Dudley came scurrying in, obviously, the talk of magic had spooked him away from his TV.

Harry's new aunt smiled and greeted the boy to which Dudley only whimpered and his hands moved towards his new pig's tail.

"As to why he didn't want you living with me, there are multiple reasons. The first is that my brother-in-law was a follower of the man who killed your parents, so Dumbledore thought he may try to kill you in the hopes that that brings his master back or my brother-in-law tried to manipulate you into fighting with Voldemort and against Dumbledore - I would've had never allowed it but he doesn't trust me since I married a Slytherin." She paused and waited to see if Harry had any questions.

"Aren't Slytherin's all evil?" His question made her snort, the noise obviously spooking Dudley who jumped into his mother's arms.

"Slytherins as a whole aren't evil, just a few of them are. Thanks to Dumbledore, they are often ostracized during their time at Hogwarts because he allows the other houses to belittle them. His blatant favouritism towards Gryffindor is shocking yet never been mentioned because he has the whole of the wizarding world eating out of his palm. For some reason, he has mixed up cunning ambition with evilness. He will try to manipulate you away from Slytherin by getting you to socialise with plenty of Gryffindors but you mustn't believe him."

Harry nodded. "Is that what you meant by 'take everything Hagrid says with a pinch of salt'?"

She smiled. "Yes, onto the second reason Dumbledore doesn't want you living with me, or even becoming friends with my daughter, is that we don't follow his every word. While I may be Gryffindor, I married a Slytherin and I'm pretty sure that I have raised a Slytherin as well."

Harry smiled at the mention of her daughter. "I have another cousin?" His question made Charlotte grin before rummaging around in her pockets.

She pulled out a photo of two children. As she showed it to him, he noticed that it moved and jumped back in shock.

"It moved!" She smiled before explaining that it was natural for wizarding photos to move.

The picture contained a little girl, even smaller than Harry, who looked identical to her mother except that she didn't have glasses. With an arm wrapped around the girl's shoulder, the blonde boy looked very aristocratic, with his hair styled into a fashionable wave, his tuxedo didn't have a hint of lint on it at all. The boy looked nothing alike to the girl, with bluish-grey eyes and a bigger build. He almost reminded Harry of the boy he'd met today in Diagon Alley - Draco Malfoy.

"The girls is your cousin, Thalia Euphemia Nott and next to her is her cousin on her father's side, Theodore Nott. You'll see them on the Hogwarts Express. Thalia was going to come and meet you today but her uncle demanded that she stayed for her dancing lesson." Charlotte rolled her eyes again, causing Harry to laugh before she looked towards Petunia, who had stayed particularly silent throughout.

"May I used magic in your home Petunia?" She asked politely which caused Petunia to blink at her. She sighed and gave Harry the photograph. When he went to protest, she quickly shh'd him.

"I've got the real version at home. Anyhow," She looked the clock on the mantelpiece, "I'm afraid that that is all I have time for, I will be sure to contact you our way. Don't worry Petunia, I won't send an owl during the day and I won't visit again. I am aiming to manoeuvre the blood ward over to me so he can come live at my house but that may take time." She rose, leaving Harry on the sofa by himself.

"I can fix your son's tail if you so wish?" She raised an eyebrow in question towards the blonde lady, who hesitated before looking at Dudley. The large boy slowly nodded, looking cautiously at the woman he didn't know.

"Is there a room where we can go that had no windows? I know you'd prefer your neighbours not to be able to do anything." With that, all of them but Harry left the lounge and minutes later, Charlotte Nott left the house. She left Harry with slightly fewer questions and a moving picture of a girl that could be his twin.


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey, so I'm not making any promises but I will try to update every Thursday as I only have 2 lessons that day. I have spent a good 5-6 hours on this, with distractions. Please feel free to review to your heart's content. Thank you for everyone who has favourited or followed this story. And a massive thank you to mattblue057, The Gryffindor Demigod and MademoiselleRiddle for your reviews - you guys were the main reason for this chapter! There was also a guest review which asked me something which I'm not going to say but the answer is no I won't do that so don't you worry. Also if you guys would like to help me name Millie's cat that'd be great :)**

 **Disclaimer; Everything you recognise is JK Rowling's, everything else is mine.**

* * *

 **Chapter 4**

1st of September 1991.

Thalia was so glad that it was the first of September. Not just because she got to see her parents after two long months away at her uncle's manor, but also because today would be the day she met her cousin for the first time. After her mother had met him and explain the situation to the boy, she'd sent a detailed letter to Thalia explaining what had happened, how he looked far too thin in comparison to Dudley Dursley. She'd been informed by her mother that Harrison had a photograph of Theodore and her from recently so that he'd know who to look for when on the train.

Whilst Thalia was excited, Theodore was nervous. As they had entered platform nine and three quarters, his father had pulled him to the side and introduced him to all the prefects in Slytherin; telling Theo that they would be sending regular letters to his father about himself and Thalia, so there would be no privacy away from home. Theodore was angry at his father but knew better than to say anything, fortunately for him, all his bruises had faded enough that they didn't ache when he moved. Still, he dreaded his aunt's infamous hug of death that he most likely was going to receive shortly.

What Theo dreaded most wasn't the reports that this father was going to receive about him, but the reports about his cousin. When around his father, Thalia was meek and obedient - only speaking out when extremely furious. However, when she wasn't under her uncle's thumb, she was a wild child. She would climb trees, ride horses at an unladylike pace as when as not caring about her appearance. If it wasn't for her family's insistence, Theo was sure that she would not even bother to brush her hair. He worried that she would forget to take precautions around boys and end up either in an unwanted betrothal or in her closet for her longest time yet. He knew that he was going to have to warn all of his friends, he knew that Blaise and Draco would keep their distance and Daphne and Pansy could lead her away from making too many rash decisions out of anger.

He shook his head as his father began talking to Thalia and him.

"Now, I hope you behave yourselves and make sure not to disgrace the name of Nott while you are at Hogwarts," He abruptly stopped what he was about to say as his younger brother came back from putting their luggage on the train.

"Thalie, Theo, come here for a hug! Your mother just went to wait at the entrance of the station to help Harry to get on the train. He told us that Hagrid hadn't mentioned how to get on the platform," Her father rolled his eyes as he sighed dramatically causing her uncle to stare at him with undisguised disgust at his blatant lack of manners. _At least there are no closets around for him to go in_ thought Thalia as she glanced between the Nott gentlemen in a barely masked worry. Theodore had obviously noticed her tense reaction to the eye roll and subtly held her hand in comfort as he tried to continue the conversation quickly.

"Why would he not tell Harrison how to get onto the platform, uncle?" Ezekiel Nott looked around before leaning forward, towards his daughter and nephew.

"Because Dumbledore probably has a Gryffindor family waiting to help him through to the platform who will spout a load more rubbish about how all Slytherins are evil while Gryffindors are gods." Thalia laughed at his analogy before frowning at the thought that she was to spend nearly nine months with an old manipulative man who could easily read her mind. Her eyes widened at the thought and she gasped causing all the men of the family to look over to her.

"What is the matter, my darling?"

"What's wrong, princess?" Both brothers spoke at the same time causing them to look at each other before looking back at the panicked girl.

"What if Dumbledore uses legilimency on us?" The question made the two adults look at each other again. This time, however, they were in agreement.

"Princess, you shouldn't be too worried about it, I'm sure he won't do that. Nevertheless, if you wish to protect yourself from it, we can teach you and Theo occulmency next summer holiday so you would be able to tell if he was." The cousins agreed in unison.

"Yes please!"

Her uncle frowned before looking at the two children. "The easiest way to stop him is to avoid eye contact with him. Understood?"

"Yes, uncle."

"Yes, father." He nodded his head in approval before turning away from his family and walking away.

"I'm going to talk to some work colleagues, I will be back before 11'o'clock." With that, the eldest Nott disappeared into the crowds, leaving the remaining family members to watch him go, mouths slightly open at his sudden departure.

"Thalia, Theo," The two mentioned turned to where their names where being exclaimed from, only to see Draco, Blaise and Pansy to rushing over to them with large grins on their faces. The boys collided into Theo, thankfully mistaking his flinch and not seeing pain flash across his face, causing a mass hug in which Ezekiel joined in, much to everyone's laughter.

Pansy had hugged Thalia a bit more sedately - more like throwing an arm around her shoulder in comparison to the boys trying to squeeze the life out of her cousin like a python.

"We've got our job cut out looking after them this year haven't we?" Questioned Pansy causing Thalia to laugh loudly.

"I've also got to look after my cousin, Harry, according to my mum, he has the same glint of mischief in his eyes as my uncle did whenever he was pranking someone." At the mention of her deceased uncle, her smile fell. Pansy noticed and was about to try and cheer her up when they were promptly squished by Daphne who had jumped on both of their backs.

"Daph! You nearly killed us." Exclaimed Pansy causing Daphne to scoff.

"Please," She scoffed again, causing Thalia to glance around in case her uncle saw. "It'd take more to kill you both hopefully."

I should hope you weren't planning to kill them just before we got to Hogwarts Daph." Interrupted Draco as he sidled up to the girls, hugging them each individually. His hair had been slicked back into his normal horrid style that made Thalia want to muss it up. It was obvious that he was being cautious around her, not getting too close when he hugged her and making sure to stand a big enough distance that he wasn't in her space.

They all began talking about what they thought that Hogwarts would be like - all their parents had only good words to say about it, with the exception of the headmaster. They all declared that they'd been in Slytherin with the exception of Thalia. While her father had been in Slytherin, her mother had been in Gryffindor and most Potters were either Gryffindor or Ravenclaw so she didn't know where she'd go. She was fearful that if she didn't go into Slytherin, her uncle would be furious with her while her parents would be supportive.

But as the clock crept closer to 11'o'clock, each child was called away to say their final goodbyes to their parents, leaving Thalia and Theo alone; wondering where their fathers had gone. As it neared 10:55 am, they began to wonder whether they should just get onto the train but as they started to walk towards it they heard their names shouted by a feminine voice.

"Thalia! Theo!" As if a repeat of their earlier actions, they turned in unison to where they'd been called. Walking briskly towards them was Charlotte Nott; still in her muggle outfit, her hair tied up in a ponytail to try an control it. She held out her arms and, without hesitation, they rushed forward in a hug. They were promptly crushed before being let go as she began to usher them toward the scarlet train.

"Theo, your father had to leave suddenly, something came up in the ministry and Wizengamot members were asked to go to the ministry quickly. He said that he would expect an owl from you both tonight and will send one back once he's received his letters." Theo nodded in understanding an to most, it looked like he was sad that his father wasn't there to say goodbye, but as a matter of fact, Theo felt ecstatic. He wouldn't receive any more threats or punishments from his father.

"Thalia, your father had to go with him but he says that he loves you so much and he will see you at Christmas, okay? We'll obviously be in touch before then. He also made a comment that he's bet five galleons that you will be in Slytherin, he also mentioned that he would share that with you if you become a Slytherin." They all laughed at that before Charlotte swore and pushed them onto the train.

"I love you both so much and I don't care what houses you are in. Harry is on the train already, I made sure that he wasn't going to miss it but I think Dumbledore sent the Weasleys to help him through the barrier as we saw them there." It looked as if she was going to say more but she shook her head. Obviously, they didn't have enough time for a full discussion of all the events.

The train conductor shut the door as soon as they were safely in and the train started to pull away from the station. Thalia and Theo waved at the last Nott member that was on the platform until they station was long out of sight.

Theo sighed. "Let's go find our friends and wherever your father put our luggage." Thalia nodded, she then winced as if expecting to be pinched or grabbed. Theo worried about his little cousin - while he had a move physical punishment, her's was more mental. Merlin's beard, she couldn't even step into her own closet anymore and that was after only two months, she still had three more summer holidays at his house before his father tried to successfully marry her off to some pureblood that didn't deserve her nor care for her.

They trailed down the corridor of the grand train in silence, both engrossed in their thoughts, only really looking up when they looked into compartments for their childhood friends. As Thalia was behind Theo, she walked into his back when he froze - his head staring straight ahead and his posture perfect.

"'Dor, what are you doing? What's happening?" Thalia tried to look over her cousin's shoulder but he was slightly too tall and her uncle had drilled it into her - quite forcefully - that a lady never jumps.

"Theodore and Thalia, shouldn't you be with your friends?" The deep voice sneered towards the end causing Thalia to frown.

"We are now on our way to find them, Marcus." Her cousin's cold voice worried Thalia, _how did he know this Marcus?_

"Well then, I know where they are as the Slytherin Prefect, I'm sure I could escort Thalia and show you two where they are."

Thalia closed her eyes at the situation they were stuck in. She couldn't say no, otherwise her uncle would somehow find out. But Theo seemed on the verge of fighting this random stranger and Thalia didn't know why - this concerned her more than anything.

She gently pushed her cousin to the side and saw the boy who she was supposed to let escort her. His teeth were all crooked and his jet black hair was spiked up in an obviously fake way. The worst part of him was his eyes - they had a gleam in them when she looked at them that made her want to get away from him.

However, for her cousin's and her own benefit, she couldn't decline the offer, so, she sucked in a breath of air, smiled daintily and graciously accepted his offer. She placed her hand on the crook of his elbow and maintained the appropriate distance from him. Yet, he pulled her closer than what was deemed appropriate almost immediately under the guise of "it's a very tight corridor and he wouldn't want to push or pull her."

She felt even more uncomfortable when he placed a hand over her own, holding her there with a tight grip. She could feel Theo get more and more pissed off with every leer that Marcus sent her way - she was sure her face had either gone pasty white in panic or red in anger.

She found out that it was red when Marcus leaned over and whispered in her ear, "You look cute when you blush."

She tried to pull away after that, set on getting as far away from this creep as possible. Despite her best efforts to relinquish his grip on her, his hand stayed firmly on her own, locking her to him. He grinned as she tried to squirm away from him before his expression went dark.

"You know your uncle has ordered all of the Slytherin Prefects to send him weekly letters about your behaviour. It would be a shame if his first letter was bad. I'm sure if I tell him how you were punching and kicking me whilst making a scene as I tried to politely escort you, he might even let me decide the punishment at your blatant disrespect towards me." His words were loud enough that Theodore could hear him and they had the required effect on both of the cousins - Thalia went pale and stopped struggling and Theodore went completely silent.

He continued to look the younger girl over when he was escorting her, leaving Thalia to near tears as there was nothing she could do to stop him. She only had three years of this before he left and she was free from his perverse stares.

Once they finally reached the compartment containing all of their friends, the cousins released sighs in synchronisation. But Marcus did not release Thalia from his grip, instead, he lent forward.

"were you never taught what to do to thank a gentleman who has escorted you somewhere?" Thalia did but she grit her teeth at the thought of kissing the troll's cheek. At the same time, she feared her uncle's wrath more than kissing this 15-year-old creep's cheek leaving her to smile at him - too large to be natural - and gave him a mere brush with her lips on his horrible cheeks.

He smirked at her, bowed then left, leaving the two cousins to face their friends who had watched everything from inside the compartment. Thalia rushed towards Pansy and Daphne who hugged her between themselves, nodding at her in understood sympathy. Meanwhile, the boys had gathered around a fuming Theodore Nott.

"My father," Theo spit through gritted teeth. "Has ordered all the Slytherin Prefects to watch Lia and I and report back to him about anything. Marcus Flint seems to have got it in his head that that means he can get Thalia and me to do whatever he wants so he doesn't go making up stories to my father." The boy's nose flared at the memory of Flint getting too close to his baby cousin. Draco scowled whilst Blaise looked thoughtful. Vincent and Greg looked upset as they observed at the young girl who was huddled up between the girls with Millie giving her cat to hold for comfort.

"I have an idea," Blaise's comment got everyone's attention, even Thalia's, whose eyes peeked over the top of Millie's cat. "He can't escort Thalia if someone already is." Everyone nodded and began to smile at the idea. Except for Theo.

"I can't escort her continuously, my father will be furious, and if one of you guys escorted her, then my father will get ideas about betrothals." The light that had been in Thalia's eyes from Blaise's words, dimmed immediately.

"What if, we all escorted her the same amount of times per day. Then she isn't showing favour towards any of us. We just have to get to her before him." Draco's words made Thalia lift her head up.

"But surely my uncle would suspect something, I mean, Marcus would tell him."

"Not if you accepted the escort of other boys that you got along with, I'm sure Harry would help with that." At the mention of Harry, Theo groaned internally, now Thalia would want to go find him.

He was right.

"Oh! I forgot to go look for him," She began to stand up only to be pushed back down again by her cousin. "What was that for Theo?"

"We don't know whether Marcus is still out there. You can't go just yet." He winced as he said that, her eyes throwing daggers at his head.

"You can't tell me what to do cousin." With that, she began standing back up, only to be shoved back down again. She shot him another annoyed look before pulling out her wand - it was only 10.5 inches, cocobolo wood and a core made of a chimaera scale, an unusual type of core for Olivander but he thought that it suited her down to the ground. "If you try an stop me again cousin, I will hex you."

Theo was about to retort when he was interrupted by Draco's slow drawl.

"I'll escort her if you want, we can take Vince and Greg just to be safe." Theo and Thalia huffed - his was because he was cut off and hers because Draco was asking her cousin instead of her, who he was planning to _escort_. But she kept quietly simply because she wanted to find her cousin.

"Fine." Before her cousin could say any conditions to his agreement, Thalia rushed out of the compartment, dragging Vince and Greg. She realised that she'd forgotten Draco in her excitement and waited impatiently for him to get up - which, if she had her say, he took extra long. Once he leisurely left the compartment, he offered his arm to her which she took hesitantly, her memories from only a short time ago rising to the centre of her brain again.

He seemed to notice her reluctance as he smiled gently at her, nothing like Marcus's - no - _Flint's_ leer. As he wasn't as large as Flint, they could easily walk beside each other without breaching either person's personal space. Vince and Greg were chatting while walking behind them but Draco and Thalia stayed relatively quiet as they peered into different compartments, they weren't 100% sure what Harry looked like but her mum had described him to her quickly in her letter when they first met.

Thalia knew he would have a shorter version of her hair, circular glasses with a wire frame, vivid green eyes and would most likely be wearing baggy clothing that hung of his small frame.

Still, coming face to face with the boy she'd been dying to meet since she was first told about him seem scary. As they spotted who they thought was Harry, she panicked and hid behind Vince and Greg. Draco sighed before entering the compartment with the two larger boys following him, hiding Thalia behind them.

"Is it true? What they're saying all down the train that Harry Potter is in this compartment?"

Harry looked at the boy in interest, _why did he care? He wasn't interested who he was in Diagon Alley._

"Yes." The boy sighed in relief before smiling at Harry.

"Thank Merlin, we've been looking for a while now. This is Crabbe and Goyle," The pale boy pointed to the thickset boys. "I'm Draco Malfoy and this is..." He trailed off as he moved to the side, the two boys behind him doing the same, to reveal a girl that Harry recognised instantly. He'd stared at her photo for hours, watching as she waved at him and laughed with her other cousin who was next to her in the picture. Thalia Nott.

She grinned shyly, her cheeks going pink. "Hey Harry, do you prefer Harry or Harrison? I don't to be calling you anything that you don't want."

Harry smiled at the girl and gestured for her to sit down next to him, not noticing Ron's glare of disgust at all of the newly arrived members.

"Thalia, we'll be waiting outside," Draco said as he glanced at the ginger. "just shout if you need anything." Harry's cousin smiled and said her thanks to the blonde boy who left with the other boys.

"Harry is just fine, I think your mum is the only person to call me by my full name." They smiled at each other before Ron coughed to get their attention.

"Harry, have you met her or her mum before?" Thalia noticed the look of distrust he threw her, luckily, so did Harry.

He frowned at his new friend. "Yeah, my aunt came to visit me on my birthday, she explained who she was -" Ron cut him off.

"Did she say that she was married to a Death Eater, he's one of You-know-who's supporters. The whole family is evil." Thalia glared at him with such ferocity that Ron avoided looking at her, but even Harry was glaring at him. Ron suddenly realised that he made a major slip up insulting Harry's family.

"One, Ronald _Weasley_ , my father worked with the Order of the Phoneix during the wizarding war, he was an - excuse my language - arse licker of Dumbledore's, unlike your family. After the wrongful imprisonment of a close family friend, who Dumbledore helped imprison, we lost even more faith in him. He didn't believe my father because he was a Slytherin and he didn't trust my mother enough to look after Harry. He hid Harry from my family! But because the whole of the wizarding world thinks the sun shines out of his arse, my mother couldn't argue against him. So no, my family is not all evil."

Ron looked as if he was about to retort but Thalia wouldn't let him.

"My family is no worse than yours. A few of my family members were staunch supporters to Voldy but the rest of us don't agree We are not prejudiced against muggleborns, we simply believe that they should either be told sooner or removed from their situations because many parents don't understand what is wrong with their child and put it through hell. Most people want to protect those children and keep the wizarding world a secret. Whilst your family breeds like rabbits, some families would be wiped out if another mass witch hunt breaks out again."

Harry was amazed but the amount of knowledge that his cousin was saying. That was, until she turned to him, a fire still blazing in her dark brown eyes.

"You need to be careful when making friends. Make sure you have similarities that you can talk about. As you're new to the wizarding world, you're like a baby." He looked offended at that. "I meant that you don't have an impression on anything so you believe the first thing you're told. Some people -" She glared at Ron who looked down guiltily. " - will take advantage of that fact. Including adults." She stood up and moved towards the doors. When she looked behind, both boys were staring at her - one in anger, the other in awe. She smirked as she called out to Harry.

"Want to come and meet Theo?" Harry nodded immediately, showing that he obviously remembered her cousin's name. Ron wasn't having any of it though.

He grabbed Harry's arm. "You can't leave, they're all going to be Slytherin', they're all going to be evil! They are horrible and bullies." Harry shook him off in repugnance.

"The only judgemental bully I've seen so far is you." With that, he left with his cousin, leaving behind a ginger who was throwing a temper tantrum shouting "You're supposed to be my friend!"

Harry shook his head as he walked away. "I can't believe he was so judgemental and only friends with me because of my fame." Thalia stopped when they were a little while down the corridor - Draco and Vince and Greg having gone ahead.

"If they start off by asking about your scar or Voldy and they seem so curious about it that they are verging on rude, then they will most likely be friends with you because of your fame."

Harry nodded, silently agreeing with her. He watched as she glanced around nervously after seeing him nod his head.

"What? What's the matter?" She jumped when he asked that.

"Huh? Oh nothing, don't worry." She began walking again but he grabbed her by her bicep which caused her to tense immediately.

"Please don't touch me." Harry studied her more warily as she whispered that, it was almost as if she was scared to tell him not to touch her. Just as he was about to question her in more depth, he heard his name being called.

"Harry!" It was two voice in perfect unison which instantly made Harry realise who it was. As the two cousins turned to face a ginger pair of identical twins, Harry smiled.

"Fred, George, how are you guys?" Harry tried to make casual conversation, hoping that they hadn't spoken to Ron.

It wasn't his lucky day.

"Oh you know, just a little headache from Ronnikins who was complaining that you'd left him alone to go to the dark side, blah blah blah."

"They usual spoilt brat behaviour."

"Mother really did ruin him by giving him everything he wants."

"Such a shame."

"He could've turned out as perfect as us."

Thalia laughed at the twins' comments. "So he's the anomaly in your family?"

"Yes."

"Well, I think Percy is as well."

"Oh yeah, and Ginny is a little bit of a brat."

"But other than that."

"Actually, she might not get along with our mum."

"Oh yeah. Good point."

"So it's about a fifty-fifty split?"

"Roundabout."

Harry and Thalia felt as if they were watching a tennis match as they went back and forth between the two. When the two finally stopped, Thalia interrupted.

"I don't suppose you could do us a favour."

"Depends."

"What's in it for us?"

"I would owe you a favour, anything."

"Anything?"

Thalia gulped. "I get the final word if I say no, then I will still owe you the favour."

"Sounds good enough."

"What's the favour?"

"I don't suppose you could grab Hedwig and Harry's luggage from his old compartment, I would go in there and use magic but I don't feel like getting shouted at by your little brother."

"Of course, you go back to your compartment, we'll find you."

"Thank you." The cousins said in unison causing the four of them to blink in shock.

"Are you sure you're not twins?"

"Pretty sure." Thalia grabbed Harry and began walking away. "You know, you two would've been brilliant Slytherins." To which the twins just laughed and winked at the girl while walking in the opposite direction.

As they were walking back to Thalia's original compartment, Harry felt Thalia freeze. He looked towards her and then to what - or better yet, _who_ \- she was looking at.

"Harry I need you to stick your arm out slightly so I can place my hand on your elbow."

"Why?"

"Just do it." Thalia practically hissed her words so Harry complied. She placed her hand in the crook of his elbow and whispered a quick "Thank you." before they were descended upon.

"Ah! Thalia, fancy seeing you here again." Marcus Flint shook his head in mock amazement.

"Well, Marcus, it is nearly an eight-hour train ride, we are only about four hours in." Harry became nervous at sight of the elder boy, glaring at him while leering at his cousin.

"Are you just on your way back to your compartment? May I escort you back?"

Thalia tightened her grip on Harry's arm while smiling tightly at Flint. "Unfortunately, my cousin has already offered to escort me and it is rude to leave me halfway through." This brought the fifth year student to look over at Harry. He squinted at him before turning back to Thalia.

"Unless Theo has spelled his hair black and shrunk slightly, this isn't your cousin."

"Actually," Harry interrupted, coming to his cousin's aid. "I'm her cousin from her mother's side, Harry Potter." At his name, Flint narrowed his eyes before he breathed deeply out of his nose.

"Well played Thalia. Your uncle never said your other cousin could deny suitors." With that, he left quickly - still too slowly for Thalia and Harry as he kept looking Thalia up and down.

"What was that all about?" Harry questioned with wide eyes.

His cousin sighed, rubbing her face. "That is pureblood society."

"What do you mean?"

"My mother has already explained that my uncle is not the best of men. He's a staunch believer in pureblood traditions; you know, the girl gets escorted places by a man - either family or a suitor. The suitor is a potential husband and if the parents of both parties find them suitable, or the girl attractive enough, or the other has a lot of money or social standing, then a betrothal contract is made. This means that as soon as both parties come of age then they are married. It's magically binding so you can only break the contract if both parties agree, if not you lose your magic."

"Why do you do that? What's the point?" Thalia could tell that Harry was confused so she tried to explain it in the simplest way possible.

"It's too ensure that the heirs of the family have a secure future and the family name continues. It's also to prevent your child from eloping with someone else so you have complete control of your life."

"But how does that guy - Flint? - come into all this?"

Thalia hesitated - _How much should she tell him?_ " My uncle is very traditional but Theo isn't. He doesn't want me to marry a boy that wants me just because of my looks or name. My uncle knows this so has told all the Slytherin Prefects to make sure Theo is deterring any suitors away."

"So that's what Flint meant when he said well played for getting me involved? Because your uncle can't control me but I still can tell suitors no."

"Precisely. Flint has also got it in his head that he can manipulate me by threating to send lies to my uncle unless I do what he tells me to." Harry became furious at that - so much so that his magic was causing the light to flicker in the corridor. Just as Thalia was about to tell him to calm down, Daphne popped her head out of their compartment and called them to her.

"Nott, Potter, hurry up! You've been gone ages." If Harry knew what love felt like, he would've fallen in love there and then; her honey blonde hair that dangled down as she tilted her head to the side, her blue eyes sparkling with content, her lips curled up into a smile. He felt as if he'd never seen a girl properly before.

"Alright Greengrass, now coming."

As they entered the compartment Harry was introduced to a girl with short dark brunette hair that was cut into a straight bob - Pansy Parkinson. A shy girl that seemed to hide behind her cat, she was obviously a bigger build than the other girls in here and had thick mousy brown hair that reached her shoulders - Millie Bulstrode. There was Draco Malfoy, Gregory Goyle, Vincent Crabbe, Daphne Greengrass and Thalia who he'd been introduced to. The last two were possibly the tallest boys in here, one Harry recognised from the photo - Theodore Nott. And the other was introduced as Blaise Zabini - Harry was jealous to say that at 11 years old, Zabini could rock a suit well.

"What took you so long? Draco said you were just behind him."

Thalia waved off her cousin's concern. "Don't worry, we bumped into the Weasely twins and got them to do a favour for me."

"We also met Flint." Harry watched as everyone tensed as he mentioned the boy's name, all the boys had a look of anger on their faces whilst the girls had looks of sympathy - with the exception of Daphne who seemed to look as equally as mad as the boys.

"When were you going to mention this, cousin?" Theodore's voice was cold as he spoke to his younger cousin.

Again, Thalia waved off his anger. "Don't worry, Harry and I dealt with him, he left us alone."

Everyone deflated at that news and everything seemed quiet before Blaise offered a game of something called exploding snap. It seemed that everyone was eager to teach Harry which the exceptions of Greg, Vince, Millie and Draco. Greg and Vince because they found the game extremely difficult to focus on. Millie because she was soothing her cat who didn't like the explosions and Draco who was worrying over his arm that was covered in scratch marks.


	5. Chapter 5

**Heya Just wanted to remind you guys that you're awesome and thanks for following or favouriting this story. I'm not particularly happy with this chapter, I feel that if I could have said it instead of typing it, it would get down a lot faster. Does everyone like the chapter length? I feel as if you can't get into the story unless the chapters are a decent length but that might just be me.**

 **You guys haven't left any suggestions for Millie's cat so I still don't know what to call him :( Sad times.**

 **Anyway, read, review and enjoy. Anything you recognise as JK Rowlings probably isn't mine sadly.**

* * *

 **Chapter 5**

They stopped playing exploding snap after Greg lose his eyebrows as they had to spend the next hour looking through their books, trying to figure out a way to regrow his eyebrows before they reached Hogwarts. Luckily for Greg, Draco and Blaise had had a formal tutor to teach them the basics before they reached Hogwarts - a way to make sure they didn't disgrace the family name with their appalling wand work - meaning that once Theo had found the spell, They were able to perform it with relative success, even if Greg had one eyebrow slightly hairier than the other.

They spent the rest of the time, talking to Harry. Harry had only come to realise that most families didn't hit their children after he'd told them a story about his Uncle Vernon hitting him after Harry had somehow made his hair grow overnight.

"That's horrible!" Pansy exclaimed as Daphne nodded in agreement. Both their faces were plastered with distraught at the thought of being hit for something out of your control, something as innocent as growing your hair back. Greg and Vincent had grimaces while hugging Millie who had begun crying at the fact that he'd got hit. Even Draco had reacted, even if it was in a very negative way.

He'd stood up and began shouting, "This is why mudbloods shouldn't have magic, they'll reveal it to evil disgusting muggles and they'll try and kill us all." His comment caused Blaise's head to snap up.

"Draco..." He spoke in a low warning tone, trying to avoid conflict.

"No Blaise, muggles are horrible. They try and destroy things what they don't understand or can't have! I'm telling you now if that muggle loving fool of a headmaster had his way, muggles would be burning us at the stake or ruling superior to us."

Thalia had obviously had enough at that point. Why she and Theodore had stayed quiet for so long Harry didn't know.

"Draco, stop." The platinum blonde spun around to face her - his face aghast at her blatant disagreement, although he quickly covered it much to Harry's confusion.

"Stop? I'm telling the truth. Muggles are disgusting and cruel. The mudbloods they allow at this school are just like them." Harry butt in at that point, getting quite annoyed at the blonde.

"Not all muggles are bad and their children aren't going to out the wizarding world."

Draco turned to him, anger sparked in his eyes at having nobody agree with him.

"From what you've told me as well as other people's stories, all muggles are evil." He hissed almost as if he was a snake, his mouth curled into a sneer. Harry shook his head and laughed, causing Draco to stop short.

"Malfoy, you're taking other people's opinion and believing them to be facts. It doesn't work like that. Besides, not all muggles are bad-" Harry was cut off before he could continue.

"Potter, stop repeating yourself. You say that not all muggles are bad but look at your family." Harry lept up, his emerald eyes blazing with anger. Theo and Blaise were watching carefully in case they had to intervene while Thalia had her wand at the ready.

"First off, Malfoy, I'm not the one who has said muggles are evil or any other abjective around five times so sit down you hypocrite. Secondly, I have met plenty of muggles who are good and caring. For example, my teacher in year 3 noticed that I was extremely malnourished, especially in comparison to my muggle cousin. She tried for about a month, contacting my aunt and uncle but stopped as soon as she noticed I was becoming even skinnier from starving as I was locked in the cupboard under the stairs. Instead, she turned to the other teachers, trying to persuade them to also get involved. She tried to get the authorities involved but suddenly stopped and a week later she left my school." Harry's eyes prickled as he was on the verge of tears at the thought of Ms Tompson.

It became quiet after his story. Draco looked down before retaking his seat while Theo and Blaise waited on bated breath for a few seconds longer before coping him, leaving Harry as the only one standing. He looked over at his cousin to see she also had tears in her eyes that matched his perfectly. He reached forward to comfort her but she shook her head, he recoiled quickly, wondering why she didn't want his comfort before he realised that she didn't want any more attention on her. He sat next to Daphne and she patted his hand with a warm smile before returning to the conversation Pansy just started.

They sat quietly for a few more moments before Draco got up abruptly, leaving everyone to glance over at him wearily.

"I'm going to see some family friends." They all sighed in relief when he didn't begin another argument, causing him to roll his eyes. Harry noticed that when the blonde rolled his eyes, his cousin tensed and began searching around the room for something.

"I'll follow you." Blaise stood and began to follow the other boy out of the compartment, leaving the rest to observe their retreating backs in wonder.

* * *

It was nearly 45 minutes before the pair returned and when they did, Thalia noticed that they both looked frustrated. She was about to speak when Blaise cut her off.

"We're nearly there so we need to get changed." The girls began to stand up, think that because there was less of them that they would leave to the toilets to get changed. However, all the boys refused to move the girls and as they gathered their robes, they ignored all forms of protest.

As they left, Pansy quickly shut the blinds of the compartment door and locked it before turning to face the other girls in here.

"So, now that the boys are away, the girls can finally have a proper conversation," She grinned at them then turned to the luggage rack. As she was the second shortest girl, she had to wait for Daphne and Millie to pass their bags down.

"What's the first on the agenda?" Questioned Thalia with a wry smile growing on her face as she held Millie's cat tightly to avoid him from getting squished. "Please be careful with my bag, Felix is in there."

Millie gently lowered her bag down, making sure that Thalia had a hold on it before letting it go.

"I think we should talk about Harry looked like he'd gone to heaven when he saw Daphne the whole time." Pansy's comment caused the desired effect - Daphne's clear skin bloomed red while Millie and Thalia laughed loudly.

"Oh yes, it must the blonde hair and the glowing halo." Joked Thalia causing all of them to burst into giggles, Daphne included.

"Do you like him, Daphne?" Questioned Millie sweetly as she was digging through her bag for her robes. Pansy and Thalia glanced up and waited for the blonde girl to answer, she seemed to hesitate as a blush spread from her neck.

"You do!" Exclaimed Thalia excitedly as she began to bounce up and down on the seats, holding Felix and her robes in her hands. Pansy joined her as they jumped across to the other side of the compartment's seats and back. Millie grabbed her cat and held him to her chest tightly when Pansy nearly squished him, she didn't seem mad if her grin was any indication.

"Fine, I like him!" Daphne shouted with a shy smile on her face as she looked nervously down at her feet. "It's not like we can get together anyway, my father would never allow it for one." The girls calmed down at the statement.

"Surely, even if you're unlikely to marry him, you can still enjoy the time you have together at Hogwarts?" Thalia asked softly causing Daphne to perk up as she thought about it. Unfortunately, she suddenly deflated again.

"What if he's in Gryffindor?" Her question made Thalia pause. What would happen if Harry was in Gryffindor? Would he leave them in the dust and become Dumbledore's puppet. _No, he wouldn't do that to us, to me_. But what would happen if he was in Slytherin? There still quite a few Voldy supporters, would they try anything during school?

"What do you think would happen if he was in Slytherin? You've heard his stories, he's cunning enough to be a Slytherin. Just like he's brave enough to be a Gryffindor."

Pansy stopped, looking thoughtful for a second. "I think you should tell him to not let the sorting hat put him in Slytherin. There'd be no telling what the Slytherins like Marcus would do to him if he was at their mercy. At least in Gryffindor, he could escape them for a little while, even if that does put him in close proximity to Dumbledore's pets."

Thalia nodded, agreeing to Pansy's points. "At least in Gryffindor, he could make friends without worrying that their parents were loyal to Voldy." Pansy and Daphne looked aghast at her name for the Dark Lord but luckily didn't mention anything. Their conversation came to a sudden end as there was a knock on the door followed by a lazy drawl.

"Are you girls decent or have you spent all this time gossiping?" Challenged Draco causing Thalia to laugh while the other girls huffed at the insult.

"We were planning our plans for attack actually, don't worry, you weren't discussed, we only talked about valuable people." Quipped Thalia as she opened the blind and unlocked the door.

Draco rushed in and lifted the small girl over his shoulders and spun her around quickly.

"Not valuable, huh? I bet you couldn't even handle me." He stopped after a while and the dizzy girl saw why as she stumbled into her two cousins, both of which were scowling at the Malfoy heir as if he'd just threatened to kidnap her.

"We're at the station cousin so you might want to put Felix into your bag." Theo's cold voice reminded Thalia so much of her uncle that she flinched, causing Theo to frown softly, his eyes filling with understanding and pain.

"Who's Felix?" Inquired Harry, causing whatever tension there was, to vanish. Thalia rushed to his side and promptly showed him a drowsy Felix.

"He's a miniature mooncalf that is my little companion. My uncle and parents don't know about him yet so you can't tell my mum, okay?" Harry never would've thought that a girl's voice could go from cheerful to wary in just a single sentence. But here was his cousin, breaking down his assumption about girls, one by one.

"I promise I won't tell anyone." His promise caused a large smile to form on his older cousin's face.

"Shall we get going then or are we going to stand here all evening?" Blaise's question caused everyone to hurry out of their little compartment, Thalia tucking Felix into her pocket before grabbing Harry and Theo's hands as not to lose them.

They got off of the scarlet train and promptly headed towards a large man who Harry identified as Hagrid who was shouting for the first years.

He said hello to Harry happily but his smile dimmed when he noticed that Harry wasn't surrounded by would-be Gryffindors. Ever polite (more likely, just to spite him) Thalia greeted the large man and introduced herself to him in a warm voice with a sharp undertone.

"Hello Hagrid, I'm Thalia Nott, Charlotte Nott's _daughter_ and Theodore Nott's and Harry Potter's _cousin_." She smiled, baring all her teeth at him only to be pulled away from him by her two cousins.

"I can't take you anywhere" Dispaired Theo as he shook his head. He wandered off to where Blaise was, making sure to keep his baby cousin in his sight at all times.

"Harry, I need to talk to you."

"Okay, what about?"

"Do you know how we get sorted into the four houses?"

Harry was quiet for a moment. "No, your mum never told me and it seems Hagrid told me very little."

"Well, you get sorted by a-" She was cut off by Hagrid telling them that they needed to follow him as if they hadn't been already.

"What were you going to say, Thalia?"

"I was going to say, we get sorted by-" She was cut off again as someone crashed into her. They both would've fallen if it wasn't for Harry catching them.

"Oh! I'm so sorry, I didn't see the tree root." Exclaimed the girl who'd caused Thalia to fall. Thalia couldn't see her face very well in the poor light of Hagrid's lantern but all she could see was extremely frizzy mousey brown hair that seemed to get caught in everything - including Thalia's earing.

"Ow! Just wait a minute, I need to untangle your hair from my earing."

"Why have you get earrings at your age? My parents told me that I couldn't get my ears pierced until I was at least 13 years old."

"I'm guessing you're not a pureblood then?" Whispered Thalia, not wanting to bring the attention of one Ronald Weasley who seemed to be walking extremely close by.

"No, is that a problem?" Her sharp tone made Thalia realise how she'd sounded to the stranger.

"No, unless the muggles who are supposed to be looking after you are planning to hunt us all down." The girl laughed quietly but quickly apologised when she shook her head as it tugged on Thalia's ear painfully.

"Oh I'm so sorry, " They finally managed to free themselves from each other and they moved apart. "My name's Hermione Granger."

"Thalia Nott."

"Oh! I've heard about your family, you're one of the sacred 28 families, I read about you in a magic genealogy book. Well, not you specifically but your family."

Thalia's chuckle at Hermione's rambling caused Hermione to blush and that's when they realised that they and Harry were now at the back of the group.

"Thank you, Harry, for waiting." Thalia grabbed his hand as well as Hermione's as they tried to catch up with the rest of the group.

They managed to catch up with everyone else but only because they were all clambering into boats at Hagrid's instructions.

"No more'n four to a boat!" As they were the last three to arrive, the boats with all of their friends were taken, leaving Harry, Thalia and Hermione to get into the final boat which already had a crying boy in it.

"Oh Neville, have you still not found your toad?" Hermione's sympathetic voice brought the blonde boy to lift his head up and he shook his head slowly.

"No, and my Gran's going to kill me!" Thalia and Harry sympathised with the boy, they both knew what it was like to be punished, even if Harry didn't know that Thalia understood.

"You have plenty of time to find your toad, Neville is it?" He nodded, his tears still streaming down his face. Thalia glanced around nervously, waiting to see him get punished. When she realised that wasn't going to happen, she smiled reassuringly at the tearful boy. "I'm Thalia and don't worry, I'm sure they're just exploring the castle grounds, I'm sure Felix would want to."

To show who Felix was, she pulled her mooncalf out of her pocket. He was wide awake now that it was dark and he was glowing a faint blue sheen, especially in the moonlight. Neville and Hermione both aww'd at little Felix.

"I thought we were only allowed owls, cats or toads?" Questioned Hermione curiously as she gently stroked Felix.

"Which is why you both have to promise not to tell anyone."

"I won't."

"I won't tell anyone."

She realised that Harry had been quiet for a few minutes so she peered up at him only to see him staring ahead of them. She turned and gasped when she saw the sight in front of her.

Hogwarts castle was resting on top of a cliff, the lights showed through its many windows, glittering down onto them, joining the abundance of stars that shown brightly on this clear night. Thalia finally understood her parents - going to Hogwarts felt like coming home.

They all stared up at the sight in awe until they were forced to duck through a curtain of ivy into the boat shed. Once they reached the shore, Neville and Harry clambered out - Harry stopping to help the girls out of the boat - Neville rushed ahead in his excitement at the fact that Hagrid had found his toad.

They proceeded to walk up a long stone staircase until they reached a large old oak door. Hagrid knocked three times and the door swung open immediately. Standing in the doorway was a severe looking woman who had her hair up in a tight bun and her glasses were perched onto her nose. Thalia knew who this was from all of her parents' stories as well as her uncle's angry rants about how the school was now run.

She led them into the grand entrance hall which made her uncle's manor look small before they continued up a magnificent marble staircase towards an empty chamber to the right of the Great Hall. As they were being led through the castle, she felt Harry's hand tighten in hers nervously, her other hand was then grabbed, causing her to jump slightly but luckily it was Theo who was also beginning to get nervous if his tense hold on her hand was anything to go by.

Professor McGonagall introduced herself and launched into a speech that she'd probably told many times. However, Thalia wasn't listening as she had spotted Ronald Weasley creeping closer again to Harry who was, fortunately, oblivious to it all.

What was unfortunate was the comments he made after McGonagall had left.

"Aww, you're all holding hands, I bet in a few years she'll be letting you do other things to her as well. You know, because you're so strict about who you all marry, I would be surprised if you two were engaged and married before you even left Hogwarts." Harry and Theo's grips on her hands became extremely tight - Harry's in anger and Theo's in warning at her to not react.

"You know, Weasley, You'll probably have to marry your sister or maybe even your mother as they're the only two females in your life that will ever love you." Thalia smiled quickly at Malfoy in gratitude for stepping in but it seemed to only make things worse.

"Oh I bet you've also promised Malfoy and all the Slytherins a lot for when you get older, surely the other snake girls must get jealous about how much male attention you're getting."

Thalia was unable to reply because of the return of Professor McGonagall.

"Now, form a line and follow me." Thalia went imbetween Harry and Theo and as they walked in, she moved forward to whisper in Harry's ear.

"If you get the chance, don't go to Slytherin. It's not safe for you there. Don't trust Ronald, but the Weasley twins are okay." Harry nodded quickly before concentrating on the sorting hat's song.

Thalia didn't really listen to the song, instead, she looked all around the hall - at the tables filled with golden cutlery and curious students, the candles that floated aimlessly above their heads to the ceiling that showed the night sky that they'd seen with their own eyes only a few minutes ago. She observed the teacher's table at the front of the Great Hall and instantly spotted Albus Dumbledore.

 _The easiest way to stop him is to avoid eye contact with him._

Her uncle's words rang in her head and she instantly studied everything but him in a bid to prevent him from reading her thoughts. Merlin's beard, she should have told Harry not to look him in the eyes.

She refocused once she noticed people were being called up towards the sorting hat. She watched as Millie nervously place that hat on her head and waited, holding her breath, for a few short moments until the hat exclaimed "SLYTHERIN". Crabbe was next in their friendship group and he also was put into Slytherin, as was Daphne, Vincent and Draco.

Thalia knew that she'd go in front of Theo, even if they shared the same last name and she was extremely worried about what house she was going to be in - What is she became a Gryffindor? Her parents would be fine but her uncle? It was Slytherin or nothing to please him. She didn't even dare think what he'd do if she became a Gryffindor or a Hufflepuff. The thought terrified her, what if he-

"Nott, Thalia"

The clapping had stopped for the last person, they were now all waiting for her. The stool looked so far away, what if she tripped and made an idiot of herself? Theo took away the choice of not going when he suddenly pushed her forward and towards the stool. She couldn't even begin to imagine what it's going to be like for Harry, knowing he needed to stay away from Slytherin, not because they were all evil, but because a select few were a possible threat to him.

She reached the hat and gently lifted it onto her head as she sat down - the eyes of everyone in the hall vanishing behind the soft worn fabric of the sorting hat.

 _Ah! A Potter and a Nott, the first of that combination that I've seen._

Thalia jumped at the sudden voice in her head. _"Hello, you're the sorting hat's voice then?"_

 _Yes, I'm the sorting hat, you're a difficult one, my dear._

 _"What do you mean by that? And is your voice the voice of the person that made you or did you somehow have a complete random voice?"_

 _You are difficult because you have the curiosity of a Ravenclaw, the loyalty of a Gryffindor and the cunning of a Slytherin._

 _"No Hufflepuff straights then? My mother was right. But you didn't answer the question, is your voice Godric Gryffindor's or a random voice?"_

 _I don't actually know the answer to that one, it has been so long since I have heard the four founders' voices._

 _"Surely you wouldn't have forgotten them?"_

 _It has been many generations since I last heard them._

 _"Do you not live near a portrait of them? I would do that if I was Headmistress, so you'd have someone to talk to during the school year and you wouldn't interrupt me if I was doing something important."_

 _I'm afraid there are no portraits of the founders in this school anymore, they have been lost over the years. You wish to become a Headmistress?_

 _"I don't know what I want to become, I just want to make a change in the world so women are less dependent on men. I don't care how I do it, whether I become the best Auror in the wizarding world or if I become the Headmistress of this school._

 _So you have the ambition to go into a position of power?_

 _"I guess but as long as I'm not stuck being the obedient weak-willed wife of a rich pompous git, I'm content."_

 _Ha! I know just the place you would thrive in, SLYTHERIN!_

Thalia said her goodbyes and lifted the hat off her head to see that the Great Hall was silently staring at her. It wasn't until the Slytherin table began to clap that the rest shortly followed - albeit their applause wasn't as strong as it had been for their own houses. The Weasley twins began hissing at her so she smirked and hissed back loudly as she walked passed them to her house table. Laughter followed her to where Daphne, Draco, Greg and Vincent sat waiting for her with happy but confused expressions on their faces.

As soon as she sat down, she watched as Theo was immediately sorted into Slytherin. He walked over quickly and they watched nervously as Harry was sorted into Gryffindor after a few tentative minutes. She let out a sigh of relief as he began happily talking to Hermione and Neville, completely ignoring the youngest Weasley who was sitting a few seats down from him. She turned back to the rest of her friends and her housemates only to see them watching her attentively.

"Yes?" She arched her eyebrow at them causing the majority of them to look down with the exception of her close friends and Theo.

"What were you talking to the hat about?"

Thalia looked at Blaise as he spoke. "Oh, I was just wondering if his voice was that of Godric Gryffindor or his own one that had been created when he had. We also discussed what I wanted to do in life." Thalia shrugged afterwards, think it was no big deal.

"'Lia, you broke the record for the longest hatstall because you were having a conversation with the hat?" Theo looked as if he didn't know whether to laugh or groan in exasperation. Thalia looked around at her friends, confused.

Daphne decided to elaborate. "You were sitting there for nearly seven minutes, people were being to think you were a squib that'd snuck your way in. Dumbledore looked as if he was about to get up and drag you out of here." Everyone laughed uneasily at the poor joke that Daphne tried to make.

"Nott," Her last name was exclaimed from a little way down the table. It wasn't the fact that it was her last name but it was the voice that said it that sent shivers down her spine. Both Thalia and Theo turned to face Marcus Flint who was showing his ugly teeth in a full teeth grin.

"Yes, Flint?" The cousins said in unison causing that giant fifth year to pause. He flung Theo a glare.

"Not you Theodore. I just want to congratulate you on breaking the record, I'm sure your family will be so proud of you. I would also like to ask whether you would allow me to escort you to the common room after dinner?" How dare he ask her in front of everyone, who did he think he is?

"I'm sorry, Flint, I beat you there in regards to escorting Thalia as she has already graciously accepted my humble request." Blaise's lazy declaration was a godsend to Thalia, Flint's murderous expression was not so much.

"I'm sorry, Flint, maybe another time?" Thalia was internally groaning as she said those words but they seemed to have the required reaction as Flint stopped glaring at Blaise in favour of giving her a look that sent chills down her spine.

Thalia was so full by the end of the meal that she completely missed Dumbledore's warning and even missed the Hogwarts school song. She was only roused when Blaise grabbed her hand when they began to rise from their seats - it seemed he didn't even dare given Flint a second of opportunity to think of snatching Thalia away from him.

"First Year Slytherins, follow me!" The girl prefect shouted as she stood next to Flint. They all shuffled over there sleepily, Thalia made sure to keep a firm grip of Blaise's arm as he led her towards the dungeons.

"At least we don't have to climb up all those stairs."

"Yeah but the dungeons are already colder than what my mum said the Gryffindor common room is." Thalia frowned at the fact that Harry would be all alone now, maybe she should have left him alone so he could make more friends that he'd share a dormitory with. No, she had to get him away from Weasley.

They reached a wall covered in rocks that looked like a normal stone wall down in the dungeons.

"Alright, listen up because I'm not going to repeat myself. The password is currently Basilik, this changes fortnightly so you will need to regularly check the noticeboard because otherwise you're stuck out here. I'm not helping you get in, it's your own fault."

Marcus' words made Thalia want to roll her eyes but she dared not to just in case. The common room was extremely elegant in Thalia's opinion, the black leather furniture, the green flames that lit the dark room. The large glass ceiling that showed the Black Lake particularly captivated Thalia, she could sit on one of the sofa's and look up for hours, even if it wasn't the stars like her mother used to watch every night in the Gryffindor tower.

All of the Slytherins - first year to seventh - gathered around one of the seventh years who stood up when they arrived.

"My name is Lux and I am currently Head Boy. As we are Slytherins there is a certain prejudice against us - every house has one; Gryffindors are the heroes, Ravenclaws are the nerds, Hufflepuffs are the pushovers - we are the evil. Because of this reason, we are treated unfairly by students and staff alike. This means we can't rip into each other because we only have each other, a snake pit is more dangerous than a single snake. For that reason alone, little firsties, you are not to wander around alone, always travel in pairs as the minimum. And, if you have a bone to pick with some other Slytherin, do it in here where there is equal back up and you don't have to watch your backs for some hex-happy Gryffindor who is trying to prove how brave they are. Understood?" Everyone nodded. "Good, get some rest you lot."

The female Slytherin Prefect called Mandisa showed the girls their dormitory whilst Flint showed the boys their own. For once, Pansy and Daphne didn't want to chat and everyone was in agreement as they shuffled around to get ready for bed.

Thalia drifted off to sleep with Felix sharing her pillow, feeling as though she'd forgotten to do something.


	6. Chapter 6

**Hey, so... sorry for being a day later than usual? In my defence, I had an extended project that needed to be finished this week wish took a while. Thank you to and a Guest for your amazing reviews, I really did smile while reading them! I hope everyone is going to see Crimes of Grindlewald soon! I'm going to see it tomorrow and I can't wait! Also thank you for everyone who has followed or favourited this story! You guys are awesome!**

 **Just a further reminder, anything you recognise is JK Rowling's not mine :) So enjoy, read, review, follow or favourite, I don't mind which (preferably reading then one of the other three but ya know).**

* * *

 **Chapter 6**

2nd September 1991.

Thalia was awoken roughly by Daphne at a stupid time in the morning in her opinion.

"Daph, it's half six in the morning for Merlin's sake!" She groaned and shoved her head back on to her pillow, grabbing her duvet and covering her head with it.

Unfortunately, her duvet was not an invisibility cloak and within seconds, Daphne had snatched it out of Thalia's hand and uncovered the girl, leaving her to shiver from the cold attacking her body.

"Come on Thalie, We have to get ready and to breakfast before Flint wakes up and tries to escort you." Thalia groaned again but begrudgingly clambered out off her bed and shuffled to the bathroom.

"I hate it when you're right Greengrass." She muttered as she walked past the blonde girl causing everyone in the dorm to burst into giggles.

"Oh dear, she last-named you Daph! She's out for your blood!" Exclaimed Pansy as she flung her head back, laughter ripping its way out of her throat. Suddenly, she spluttered as she was hit in the back of her head by a projectile hairbrush that was flung from the recently entered bathroom.

Millie and Daphne both collapsed in fits of laughter, holding onto each other as tears leaked out of their eyes. They howled even louder when Pansy picked up the brush and threw it back into the bathroom, hitting its target if Thalia's yell was anything to go by.

"Thalia Euphemia Nott, when you get out of there I will kill you with my bare hands." Hissed Pansy as she glared at the now shut door.

"Not much incentive to leave this room then, is it?" Pansy smirked before replying.

"I can wait, you're the one going to have to suffer when Flint forces you to let him escort you. He'll probably mention writing to your uncle as a threat."

Muggle cursing was not the reaction Pansy was looking for. Nor was Thalia tearing out of the bathroom, her hair half brushed, toothpaste on her cheek.

"I forgot to owl my family last night. My uncle is going to be furious!" The laughter abruptly stopped as all the girls stared at the panicked girl.

"It's fine. If we get going now you can write a letter at breakfast and we'll go to the owlery before our first lesson. We should be able to find it." Daphne stood up quickly and began rushing to get ready whilst trying to organise the others.

"I'm sure if you explain the situation, he won't get too mad?" Questioned Millie nervously as she quickly grabbed her cat, his fur already sticking to her robes.

Pansy rolled her eyes. "We'll be lucky if he hasn't already sent a howler."

She quickly backtracked when she saw how pale her friend was. "Or maybe he'll understand - surely if you blame Marcus for not letting you out to get to the owlery?"

Thalia shook her head. "He won't understand. Besides, he'll probably believe Marcus over me. I might as well not turn up to breakfast. What an embarrassing way to start my first year - getting a howler for not sending a letter home to my uncle."

* * *

They hurried to get ready, any hint of laughter promptly vanished at the thought of Thalia getting a howler or even being abused by her uncle next time she was alone with him. They raced down from their dormitory and were about to leave the common room when they were intercepted by a concerned looking Draco and Blaise.

"What's wrong girls? You look like you're about to puke." Blaise's cool concern was promptly ignored by Thalia as she rushed out of the common room as if the Devil was chasing her. The other girls watched her go, only Daphne followed her after a quick hello to the two Slytherin boys. Draco observed the scene with worry in his eyes, even if his face was a mask of indifference.

"What was up with Thalia?" He asked the remaining two girls while they waiting for Theo, Greg and Vincent to get ready.

Pansy sighed, glancing at the entrance of the common room before facing the pair.

"She forgot to send a letter to her family last night when her uncle told her to." Much to her confusion, the boys sighed in relief.

"What? This is serious!" Exclaimed Millie nervously as she clutched her cat even tighter to her.

"Theo sent a letter last night and signed it from both of them so she doesn't need to worry about a howler." Millie let out a breath of relief but Pansy didn't, instead, she smirked and studied the platinum blond boy in front of her,

"She also left early to avoid Marcus Flint." Draco tense for a moment, his indifferent facade slipping for a second when pure anger crossed over his features.

"That boy, " Hissed Draco furiously, "Wait until my father hears about this. Her uncle giving a boy from a small pureblood family the ability and power to force her to do what he wants." They all shivered at the thought of what Marcus Flint could actually do if he so wanted - what he could get away with.

Before Draco could rant anymore than he already had, Theo strolled down from the boys' dorm, Greg and Vincent following just behind him. When he looked up from tying his tie he asked where Thalia and Daphne were.

"Not still getting ready are they?" He joked but everyone shook their heads at him with blank expressions.

"What?" He demanded immediately.

"Mate..." Blaise dragged a hand through his short hair.

Theo walked and got into Draco's face, his height giving him a slight advantage over the Malfoy boy. "What's happened, Malfoy?" Draco shoved him away with a furious look on his face.

"Don't even try to get in my face again, Nott." Warned Draco lowly. "You won't like what I'd do to you."

Theo ignored his warning and looked at Blaise instead. "What's happened?"

"Thalia panicked when she realised she hadn't sent a letter to your father so she's rushed to go do it now. She's also trying to avoid Flint." Theo ran his hand over his face in frustration at Pansy's quickly-spoken words.

"Why didn't you stop her?" Draco raised an eyebrow while Blaise scoffed in disbelief.

"Stop her? We barely saw her before she disappeared out of the common room with Daphne on her tail." Blaise defended himself with his arms crossed over his chest. Theo breathed in deeply, his eyes closed.

"At least she's not alone but we do need to find her." With his words, they all scrambled out of the common room to go find the missing pair - with the exception of Draco who decided to go to breakfast just in case she turned up - _they turned up_ he corrected mentally.

They split into groups of two's, Pansy and Millie, Greg and Vincent, Blaise and Theo. Theo and Blaise ran to the Owlery ahead of the group whilst Greg and Vince followed slowly behind them - Vince's dyslexia causing him to trip slightly. Meanwhile, Pansy and Millie rushed to the Great Hall, hoping to catch the two girls writing the letter.

They burst into the near empty Great Hall only to see Thalia and Daphne writing furiously onto a piece of parchment. Pansy ran and jumped onto Thalia's back, frantically grappling for the parchment.

"Get off Pansy! Are you trying to get me in trouble?"

"No, you're not in-" She was cut off by a boney little elbow to her ribs. Millie was quietly explaining the situation to Daphne who suddenly had a look of understanding on her face.

"Pansy get off!" Exclaimed Thalia, in her panic, she didn't notice that she'd begun to cry in pure terror at the thought of her uncle being angry with her.

"Just let me explain!" Pansy shouted as she tried one last attempt at grabbing the parchment. She need not have tried as Daphne quickly picked the half-written letter out of Thalia's hand with little argument - obviously, Thalia still thought she was on "her side".

"You need to listen to them, Thalia."

"Not you as well Daphne! You don't understand, He'll lock me up again, I can't go back there, I can't!" She was in near hysterics at that moment.

"He won't lock you up again, Thalia." Draco's serious voice cut through the haze in Thalia's mind. She turned her hazel eyes to his stormy grey ones - her vision was blurry from unshed tears - and slowly stopped struggling, her breathing became regulated again as she began to register what Draco said.

"What do you mean?" Her voice was quiet, barely audible over the chatter that was beginning to mount in the Great Hall. Draco didn't answer straight away, instead, he gestured for them all to sit down. As they were sitting down Millie handed Thalia her calico cat for comfort.

"Duck always manages to make me feel better when I've been upset." Thalia thanked her while Draco snorted in disbelief.

"I still can't believe that your cat is named Duck."

"My baby sister named him when she was younger." Defended Millie with her arms crossed over her chest.

"But hypocritical for you to say that _Draco_. Not only is your name hypocritical but don't you have a favourite peacock called Metriovech?" Retorted Daphne as she wrapped her arm around the slightly larger girl.

"It's a good strong name. They both are." Draco just sneered at the blonde girl before returning his attention to the dark haired girl who was holding the cat in question.

"You won't be locked up again Thalie, Theo sent a letter from both of you last night. Your uncle won't know you forgot. You don't need to worry." He smiled reassuringly at her before straightening his posture and fixing the emotions on his face as he noticed everyone was looking at him.

Theo, Blaise and a slightly lagging Greg and Vincent rushed into the Hall after that. Theo rushing to sit next to his cousin and flung his arms around her - nearly squishing Duck causing him to hiss and flee back into the loving arms of Millie.

"'Lia, you scared me to death for Merlin's sake. I thought you were going to get us both in trouble." Thalia felt guilty at the thought that he would've been punished for lying to his father and his punishment would've been more painful, to begin with.

"I'm sorry 'Dor. I promise I will talk to you first next time." She buried her head into his neck as she hugged tightly causing him to hiss quietly in pain.

"Careful 'Lia, I'm still sore from my last _lesson_." He whispered into her ear - It wasn't the fact that he whispered but more the fact that he had called his punishment a lesson that caused her to flinch, but the fact that that was what his father had come to call them. She dreaded her uncle's lessons - had done since her very first once on Harry's birthday.

They all began to eat a variety of breakfasts - even Thalia was astonished at the amount of food that Greg and Vince consumed, what with the rest of the group were still partially full from last night's feast.

Unfortunately, before they could leave for their first lesson, they had to wait for their timetables to know what their first lesson was. But that was promptly solved by the arrival of one potions professor.

"Ah, Miss Nott, you look just like your mother's side of the family - let's hope that you didn't inherit their no-good attitude and their natural instinct to break the rules and that your father and uncle have brought you up to have good manners. It would be a shame to start your school year with detention and I know for a fact your uncle would be most disappointed with you." She stayed quiet, hoping that he'd pass her her timetable then leave.

But he didn't seem to get the message.

"At least you've learnt when to be quiet, your mother still hasn't learnt that yet. This must be your uncle's hard work then - I should go congratulate him." She was on the verge of tears again but didn't dare look up at him lest she made it worse.

"Excuse me Professor, but I don't see why you are insulting Thalia's mother." Said Pansy pettily, her arm slowly raised around the aforementioned girl. Professor Snape just arched an eyebrow at the first year who dared question him but then left the group alone.

Theo, Blaise and Daphne all scowled at his retreating back as Thalia began to sniffle, trying to not cry - the thought of her Head of House being cosy with her uncle made her sick - could she never escape her uncle?

Just as Marus Flint was stumbling into the Great Hall, the boys decided it was time to get to their first Transfiguration class so they arose - Vince escorting Thalia - and walked passed Flint whilst talking so that he was unable to disrupt them. Not that he'd be able to without his morning tea.

Nobody had noticed that Harry hadn't arrived for breakfast yet. Nor had Ron or Neville.

It took the group a whole twenty minutes to find their Transfiguration classroom and when they did a rather strict-looking cat was sitting on the front desk, almost as if it were waiting for them. Millie instantly went over there and began to try to give it treats but she bit out a gasp when the cat abruptly transformed into their Transfiguration Professor.

"While I appreciate you caring for all the cats around Hogwarts, I would advise you to refrain from giving trying to give me treats. If you need to check that it is me, look for my glasses marks that are around my eyes in my animagus form, Miss Bulstrode." Millie became red in the face in embarrassment whilst everyone else attempted to stop laughing.

They all began to split off into pairs and find seats but before they could even sit down McGonagall's voice rang out again.

"Don't get comfortable sitting down, I will designating you a seat as a way to make friends in other houses - I will not have house prejudice in my classroom." They all subtly groaned in annoyance but stood up, waiting to the side of the classroom and began chatting amongst themselves.

"I better not have to sit next to a mudblood." Sneered Draco causing everyone to frown at him.

"Muggleborn, Draco, that's is the correct term to use." Corrected Thalia as she sent a scathing look towards the blond boy. He simply rolled his eyes and began a Quidditch discussion with the boys of the group.

"I agree with Draco, I don't want to sit next to a muggleborn. We wouldn't have anything to talk about!" Exclaimed Pansy as she gestured dramatically. Thalia rolled her eyes at the ridiculousness of the situation before tensing again - the fear of her uncle's lessons never leaving her.

They didn't have to wait much longer as the rest of the class - all Gryffindors - poured into the room. They too began to grab tables to sit at, preferring to sit with their friends and throwing distrustful looks at the Slytherins. Thalia wanted to roll her eyes again but dared not to as McGonagall told her lions the same warning as she told them only minutes before.

She began mixing up the housemates, placing Draco with Pavarti Patil, Theo with Seamus Finnigan, Blaise with Lavender Brown, Vince with another Gryffindor girl that Thalia didn't recognise, Greg with another Gryffindor girl, Daphne with Hermione and Thalia with Dean Thomas. This left Pansy and Millie together but caused McGonagall to frown in confusion.

"Where is Mr Potter, Mr Weasley and Mr Longbottom?" Her question seemed directed at the Gryffindors but when they all shrugged, she turned her attention towards Thalia.

"Miss Nott, do you know where your cousin is?"

Thalia laughed quickly. "He's sitting next to Seamus Finnigan, Professor."

The Scottish woman sighed and looked at the girl sternly after a moment. "I meant your other cousin, Mr Potter."

"I don't know, Professor. I haven't seen him since the feast last night." McGonagall sighed again before looking at the rest of the class.

"Let us hope they find their way soon and do not miss much." She then told them to begin reviewing the basics of Transfiguration and making notes quietly. She returned to her spot on her desk in her animagus form again and began to observe the class as they worked.

"Hi, my name is Thalia Nott." Thalia introduced herself to the Gryffindor boy next to her, finding him quite cute, she guessed anyway. It wasn't like she'd ever had a crush on a boy before - she'd only been surrounded by her friends her whole life - it wasn't exactly like she was going to be hopelessly in love with Draco Malfoy or one of those four.

"I know." He seemed to realise how rude he was being as he then added on. "My name is Dean Thomas."

"I know." Thalia teased him slightly with a light blush spreading across her cheeks. She studied her notes intently, not daring to look up and see if he was looking at her.

"So your Harry's cousin then?" His question made her want to roll her eyes - of course, the first question he asked her was about her famous cousin.

"What gave it away? That fact that Professor McGonagall called him my cousin?" She knew she was being slightly rude but she didn't care because it hurt slightly that the first boy she found cute only wanted to talk to her about her cousin. That was just Karma wrapped up in a teapot.

"Actually, you look like you could be twins with how similar you look. Except for your eyes and the fact that he needs glasses."

"I thank Merlin every day that I got my father's good eyesight and not the Potter's cursed eyesight." Dean sniggered at that causing happiness and relief to flood into her system at the fact that he found her funny. Apparently, according to her uncle, men didn't like funny girls - they liked meek and obedient girls. The thought of being obedient to any man, made Thalia want to puke. How did her aunt cope with her uncle?

"How are you finding Gryffindor?"

"It's really cool! Our common room and dormitories are in a tower and the views we have of the Quidditch pitch are amazing, although I've never watched or played Quidditch before - Is it any good?"

"You've never watched or played Quidditch? How?" He looked abashed as he opened and closed his mouth repeatedly.

"Well, I didn't know about magic and Hogwarts until a few months ago when Professor Sinistra gave me my letter. My dad left after my sisters were born so I don't know whether he was a wizard or not." Thalia's mouth hung open. If the man was a wizard, how dare he leave three possibly magical children with their muggle mother who knew nothing of magic.

"Did your mother hurt you whenever you did magic? Surely she would've been scared." Dean's head turned sharply towards her.

"My mum has never hurt me or my sisters - magic or not." Thalia leaned back away from the now scowling boy.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to assume, I just thought that muggles may lash out in fear."

"You assumed wrong, my mother thought it was slightly weird but not enough to hit me - parents shouldn't hurt their kids, no matter the circumstances. That's what my mum says."

Thalia looked down and glanced at Theo out of the corner of her eye. "No, they shouldn't."

They were interrupted then by the door bursting open and Harry, Neville and Ronald sprinting through.

"Can you imagine old McGonagall's face if she was here." Thalia closed her eyes and sighed at Ron's stupid comment. Here we go.

McGonagall transformed in front of the boys causing them all to jump and turn red in the same way Millie did.

"I imagine it would look like this Mr Weasley." Her Scottish accent was strong as her lips were thinned in anger. Thalia smirked inwardly as she watched Ronald go pale in fear.

It was slightly less funny when both Neville and Harry also went as white as a sheet.

"Now, do I need to turn one of you into a map and another into a pocket watch so at least one of you would be able to get to lesson on time?" The trio of boys shook their heads silently - Neville looked as if he was about to cry and Thalia felt sympathy for him, it was only their first day.

Professor McGonagall gestured at them to take a seat and they all rushed towards the only three available seats left. Ronald had managed to beat Neville for the seat next to Harry, much to Thalia's chagrin, leaving Neville to with Hermione and Daphne in an awkward three - It was only when McGonagall extended their table did the two girls look less annoyed at the Gryffindor boy.

Obviously, Thalia wasn't hiding her hatred for Ron very well as Dean nudged her and pointed his head towards Ron.

"You don't seem to like Ron very much."

"That obvious?" He snickered before nodding his head.

"I think a blind person could see you have a mutual dislike for each other."

"I never said he didn't like me."

"No, but he was arguing with Harry about you last night. Said you had been sorted into the evil house and therefore Harry shouldn't spend time around you."

"Charming." It seemed that Dean thought her monotonous voice was to try and hide the fact that she was hurt as he quickly backtracked.

"Don't worry though, Harry and Neville defended you and I think the Weasley twins pranked him this morning as a punishment for being rude to you. At least that's what they told Harry they were going to do last night. I think Ron is still trying to get Harry to be his friend though. He's completely forgotten that there are three other boys in the dorm that can hear him insult you." Thalia scowled even more at the redhead but she was glad that Harry and the twins defended her.

"Do you belie-" She was cut off by Professor McGonagall looming over the pair of them.

"I believe, Miss Nott, that I told you to review and write up the basics of transfiguration. Gossiping is not part of the syllabus the last time I checked."

"Sorry Professor." They both chimed - Thalia decided that she'd already chatted back to her once today and got away with it, she didn't think she would a second time.

The class continued for the next hour in relative silence and it was only at the end did anything remotely interesting happen in the eyes of everyone in the class.

As Greg began walking over to Thalia to escort her, Ronald beat him to it.

"May I escort you?" He sneered and didn't give her any time to respond as he grabbed her arm and started to pull her out of the classroom. Thalia tried to get her hand out of his grip but as she was so small, she couldn't fight against him. Panicked, She looked behind her, trying to get help from one of her cousins or friends. Only Draco and Greg were watching, Harry was still packing away his things and Theo was in a discussion with Blaise and the girls. Draco looked like he was planning Weasley's murder and was about to step in when a wall of bushy hair blocked her captors way in the hallway.

"Get out of my way Granger, can't you see I'm trying to escort Nott?" Ronald sneered at the brunette but it only caused her to lift her chin up higher.

"I don't believe Thalia accepted your invitation to be escorted. Perhaps you should see if she wants you dragging her around in an ungentlemanly fashion?" Hermione raised an eyebrow at the boy, her facial expression imitating McGonagall's stern face. But Ronald just barked out a short laugh.

"The girl doesn't get a choice. She's supposed to accept any pureblood boys who offer to escort her."

"You seemed to gloss over the word 'acceptable' pureblood boys aka not you." Thalia's voice cut through the air like shards of ice with how cold it was. Her face was an emotionless mask even as pain laced through her arm from his grip.

Ron snarled at her in anger before he smirked and lent for to whisper in Thalia's ear. "I'm sure a certain Slytherin would want to know all about you not accepting your escort." Thalia instantly went pale causing Hermione to become worried.

"What did you say to her?" She demanded furiously as she stormed forward. Ron shrugged, a smirk still plastered across his face. Tears were beginning to form in her eyes at the thought of Ron and Marcus taking advantage of her abusive uncle (Unknowingly on Ron's part) as a way to control her. Her wrist was aching and she knew that it would probably form into a bruise later if it hadn't already. Her anger at the entire situation was rising but she was still in control enough to recognise that it wasn't her magic that caused Ron to be ripped away from her.

"My cousin obviously is uncomfortable with your advances and whatever you said to her has made her distressed, therefore as her cousin and closest male in the family at the current moment in time, I am allowed to decline your offer to escort her. May you never ask her again. For your sake." If Thalia's voice was cold, Theo's voice could freeze even the warmest of hearts and his expression could've killed. He walked forward and pushed Thalia and Hermione gently behind him, towards Harry and Draco who were standing close by. Thalia suspected that it was Harry's accidental magic as she knew that Theo had better control than that.

Harry hugged Hermione and whispered his thanks towards her while Draco brought Thalia to his side and held her tightly - her and Hermione's hands had become clasped together in a way to show Hermione how grateful she was.

Being the brash Gryffindor he was, Ronald didn't seem deterred by the fact that he was severely outnumbered.

"Your cousin seems to accept all other boys attention, I mean look at her now, already in Malfoy's arms." He leered at the small girl who huddled even closer to the blond boy. "I bet she's not just a Slytherin whore but a gold digger as well. Is that why you stick up for her? Not just because she helps you out on the odd occasion but because she's going to marry a rich man and get loads of money when he mysteriously dies like Zabini's mum." Blaise stepped forward to defend his mother but Seamus stepped forward first.

"If she's willing to help her cousin out, I'm sure she won't oppose helping us all out every so often." Seamus was suddenly shoved to the floor by a force. He quickly got up only to realise that Thalia was glaring at him from behind Theodore and Blaise's shoulders causing him to realise his mistake.

"First off, I will never be _desperate_ enough to sink so low as to even willingly touch your shoulder, let alone the rest of you." She began walking forward, shaking Draco's arm off of her but still holding Hermione's hand for comfort. "I _have_ never and _will_ never be a gold digger, I _will_ make my _own_ way in the world whether you believe I can or not. And lastly, the next time you accuse me of _'helping out'_ my own cousin, I will send a letter home to apologise for the many future detentions I will most likely get by showing you a lesson."

She left the hallway after her final word, Hermione, and the other Slytherins following her. Harry, Blaise, Theo and Draco stayed behind.

"Thank you for sticking up for me and noticing I needed help." Hermione blushed as the others also thanked her graciously - blood status be damned. She left afterwards to go check out the Library, leaving the Slytherin group to wait for the return of four of its members - Harry being an honorary member of course.

They returned shortly afterwards, Draco was the only one smirking.

"What's got you so happy?" Quizzed Daphne.

"I'm sending a letter to my father about Weasley and Flint. I'm fed up of them taking advantage of you, Thalie." Thalia blushed but then internally berated herself, a moment ago you had a crush on Dean, why are you suddenly acting like Draco is proposing?

"Be careful Draco, It'll make it look like you are jealous or claiming Thalia for yourself," Theo warned as he hugged his little cousin.

Draco just waved him off. "I'll tell father that I don't wish to have a betrothal contract, especially not in my first year."

"Well, that sort of explains why you are happy, but why are you three scowling?" Questioned Pansy. Draco laughed while the other three glared at him.

McGonagall came outside after you'd left, just when Blaise punched Finnigan - He's lost house points. Then, Weasley decided to play the victim card and say that Potter and Theo attacked him with their magic so they have also lost house points. Even after Potter stupidly admitted it was just him, not Theo." They all laughed at the trio's misfortune.

Millie turned to Harry and then quietly asked why he was late that morning.

"I was busy laughing at Ron who'd been pranked by his brothers this morning."

"Dean told me he'd been pranked, what did they do?"

"They had stuck him to the rook of his canopy bed. It took an hour for the charm to wear off." Everyone burst out laughing as they imagine the ginger flailing about in his Pj's only to collapse onto his bed after an hour of struggling.


	7. Chapter 7

**So... sorry it's slightly late, life has been a bit hectic and it's not going to get much better. I would delve deeper into excuses but it's midnight in England and I'm blooming knackered. Thank you for Nortia2 and a few others (that for some reason it won't allow me to save your names but you know who you are) for your wonderful reviews, they really do make my day. Thank you everyone who has followed or favourited this story and I hope you enjoy.**

 **Here's my disclaimer, my name is not JK Rowling and I do not own the Harry Potter Series. A fact that makes me cry all the time.**

* * *

 **Chapter** **7**

6th September 1991.

Thalia sat at the table in the library, surrounded by a pile of books which all focused on one topic - healing. She glanced down at her at her wrist which had an array of red, purple and black bruises in the shape of a hand wrapped around it. She could still feel the helplessness and panic that she'd felt when she was being dragged out of the classroom only days earlier. It had gotten worse over the past few days but she dared not go get help - nobody, not even Ronald Weasley, deserved the wrath of her uncle or mother. Although, she'd choose her mother over her uncle any day.

None of the boys knew about the extent of the damage on her wrist, she didn't want them all going after Weasley again and losing even more house points. As a precaution, she'd sworn all the girls to secrecy under the threat that she'd get the Weasley twins to prank them if they dared to even talk about it outside of the safety of their dormitory.

A loud thud brought her out of her thoughts and she looked up to find Hermione dropping a massive book on healing spells and potions onto the desk.

"There's definitely going to be a spell to heal your bruise in at least one of these. If not, I will go ask Madame Pomphrey about a spell myself." Thalia's heart warmed at the strange friendship they had.

As she was a pureblood princess in the eyes of most of Hogwarts, she couldn't be seen beings friends with a muggleborn, lest she wished to incur her uncle's anger. So they decided to be friends anyway but kept it hidden in the depths of the library, were not many people strayed except the ultimate bookworms or desperate seventh years in need of a quiet spot.

"Thank you so much 'Mione, you're a life saver." The bushy-haired Gryffindor blushed and ducked her head at the compliment. She hid her head behind a giant tome that she was determined to read before their first potions lesson. Thalia took this as a signal to begin studying her current booking which, unfortunately, focused on potions and not spells. Not the most ideal situation as potions would take slightly longer, however, if completed correctly, they would be more effective in the healing process.

They sat for a good half an hour in silence, only breaking it for the odd suggestions.

"Hey, Thalia, there's this stone called a bezoar which will save you from most poisons."

"I hate to tell you Hermione, but I'm not poisoned. I'm also not going to eat anything that is from a goat's stomach."

"I'm sure you would if you were dying from poison."

"What's the chances of that though? The only person who is likely to try and poison me is Ronald and I severely doubt he could ever make an effective poison - intentionally." They both laughed quietly at that, careful not to draw attention to themselves, and they quickly fell back into a comfortable silence.

"Oh, there's a spell here, _Episkey_ , that might work."

Thalia looked at Hermione in hope.

"Yes! It'll definitely work, it says here that it heals relatively minor injuries such as broken bones and split lips. This is perfect."

"What's the wand movement? Maybe we could try it, it's worth a shot." Thalia's excitement grew as she realised she could be rid of this ugly aching bruise soon. Perhaps if she learnt the spell, she could even use it during the summer for Theo so he wouldn't be in as much pain.

"Oh for Merlin's sake," Thalia held her breath as she heard Hermione curse. "There's no wand movement in here, it just mentions to use it if you have a minor injury."

"Well, maybe there is no wand movement? We could try it and see." Hermione shook her head vigorously.

"And risk it not working and causing more damage? It's not worth it, we'll just have to keep looking." Thalia deflated in despair.

"Let's keep going then." Silence fell over the pair again, only the rustling of the paper disturbing the peace.

The silence was then interrupted by Thalia's groan.

"What? What's wrong?"

Her reply was muffled by the book she had laid her head in despair.

"What was that?"

"I'm not going to find anything! We have only five minutes left and I've just spent the last few minutes really confused as this damned book keeps using different names for the same ingredient!"

"What's the ingredient?"

"They've mostly used the name monkshood but apparently it can also be called wolfsbane and aconite as well! As if one name wasn't hard enough to remember." Hermione's giggle made Thalia lift up her head and grin at the Gryffindor. She was about to say something when a shadow loomed over her.

The pair looked up and sighed when they realised it was only Theo and Blaise. Thalia quickly covered her wrist with her sleeve, hoping that the boys hadn't noticed.

Blaise raised his eyebrow whilst Theo grinned. "That's not usually the reaction I get from girls when I go over to them."

"What, do they usually run away screaming, Blaise?" They all began to laugh at Hermione's small question.

"Actually Granger, no, they do that when they realise that the Prince of Slytherin is coming towards them, isn't that right Theo?" The joke made Theo scowl at his friend but smile when he saw Thalia happy.

Even though it had been less than a week, Thalia and Theo had respectfully earned the title of the princess and prince of Slytherin thanks to their cold demeanours and their lack of talking to anyone out of their house except Harry. This was due to the fact that any other friendships were kept a secret from everyone - more specifically, Marcus Flint.

Unfortunately, due to his family's status, Draco was called the king of Slytherin which was slowly going to his head. He often spent most of his evening bragging to the cousins about how he was above them and how that meant that he could boss them around.

"Is that why it's got so quiet in here? Everyone ran out when they saw your ugly faces come in here?" Thalia looked up innocently at her cousin and his best friend causing Hermione to burst into giggles.

"What's all the noise? This is a library, not a Quidditch match!" Madame Pince glared at them all as if they were burning her precious books instead of just laughing. The girls took that as a signal to put all the books back in their rightful places before grabbing their bags and rushing out of the library, leaving the boys to scurry after them. As they exited the library, they noticed that there weren't many people in the corridor causing Theo to look at his watch.

Thalia grew worried when he went pasty white. "We have three minutes to get to the dungeons." Thalia didn't even bother to wait for the others, instead, she started sprinting down the corridor, her hair flying behind her, semi falling out of the plait that Daphne put it in that morning. Manners were damned in the end and Thalia lifted up her skirt and robes slightly so that she could run faster, her bag banging against her side with each step. She reached the third floor before Blaise and Theo overtook her as they were fitter than her due to the fact she wasn't allowed to play Quidditch during the summer.

"One minute." Shouted Theo as they reached the Great Hall. There were a few sixth and seventh-year students who were sat in the hall for a study period, all of them peered towards the doors and watched as three first-year Slytherins raced past, followed by a lagging Gryffindor.

They slowed just enough that they didn't burst through the door but it seemed that they didn't need to worry as Professor Snape had yet to arrive. However, Hermione was less lucky as she arrived only moments before him so was still standing next to the desk where Thalia was sitting.

"One point from Gryffindor for tardiness." Hermione blushed but sat down next to Thalia quickly, not wanting to argue with the Professor.

Snape began the lesson normally, by taking the register, but unlike most teachers, he paused at both Thalia's and Harry's names.

"Ah, yes, Harry Potter, our new celebrity." Thalia glared at her book called _One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi?_ to prevent herself from glaring at a Professor. She knew that Harry didn't like the attention, he abhorred it, avoided it at all costs which was one of the reasons he didn't particularly get along with Ronald. It didn't help matters that Draco laughed at his godfather's reaction, obviously wanting to get on his good side, this meant that Greg and Vince also laughed. Sadly this made it look like the Slytherin's were laughing at Harry, causing him to frown and look in her direction. She shook her head subtly, not wanting to have any attention on her - she worked much better when she was in the shadows, not the spotlight.

"You are here to learn the subtle science and exact art of potions making." Snape seemed to want to be dramatic or aimed to force everyone to be silent so that they could hear what he said as he only spoke in just above a whisper.

"As there is little foolish wand-waving here, many of you will hardly believe this is magic. I don't expect you will really understand the beauty of the softly simmering cauldron with its shimmering fumes, the delicate power of liquids that creep through human veins, bewitching the mind, ensnaring the senses," He swooped to the other side of the classroom dramatically.

"I can teach you how to bottle fame, brew glory, even stopper death - if you aren't as big a bunch of dunderheads as I usually have to teach." Everyone was silent following his speech. Even Thalia was impressed - _was that improvised or did he spend hours writing and practising it?_

Thalia looked next to herself to ask Hermione what she thought but observed that the Gryffindor was on the edge of her seat, her eyes never leaving Professor Snape, so Thalia decided to not disturb the girl.

"Potter!" The sudden use of her cousin's last name caused Thalia to snap her head back to their Professor. "What would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?" Thalia's mind drew a blank but, according to the flying hand that nearly hit her head at high speed, Hermione knew the answer.

Nearly everyone looked stumped with the exception of Hermione and Draco. _Of course, he would know, his family owns an expensive apothecary._

"I don't know, sir." Harry's blatant statement caused Thalia to wince, surely he could've quickly looked through his book, or at least apologise. She knew that Snape would not be happy with Harry for not even trying to ask for the answer.

Snape sneered in the exact way Draco did, "Tut, tut - fame clearly isn't everything."

Thalia looked down at her book to try and hide the fact that she was rolling her eyes at his obvious dislike of Harry. Hermione looked almost disappointed that she wasn't picked to answer the question, most likely because she wasn't given the opportunity to prove that she wasn't a dunderhead like Snape claimed everybody was.

"Let's try again. Potter, where would you look if I told you to find me a bezoar?" Thalia looked up at that one, she knew the answer but didn't see the point in putting her hand up like Hermione was currently doing. Snape didn't really want the answers, he wanted to humiliate Harry because he knew Harry wouldn't have the answers. It was a power move in its best form - albeit a pointless one.

Draco, Greg and Vince were in peals of laughter, their whole bodies shaking. Thalia scowled at them once again, _surely they weren't trying to get that far up Snape's arse?_ She didn't think she'd ever see the day when Draco was sucking up to somebody who wasn't his father but here he was. Maybe the Slytherin in him was coming out to play? Or maybe the house rivalry was making an appearance and he was being to not like Harry?

"I don't know, sir." Thalia could feel Harry's embarrassment from her seat and she could also feel the condemnation that Harry was setting himself up for.

"Thought you wouldn't open a book before coming, eh, Potter?" Thalia didn't even bother to hide that fact that she rolled her eyes - she'd gotten to the point this past week that she didn't even flinch at the action anymore simply because she had down it so much recently. Of course, barely anybody would've opened their books before they came, unless they had a name to uphold like most pureblood children or they were naturally curious about it like Hermione had been. Besides, even if he did open his book and read through it, it wasn't very likely that he would've remembered everything, not even Draco could do that after reading it once.

"What is the difference, Potter, between monkshood and wolfsbane?" Thalia's eye twitched at the reminder of _that_ horrible plant. How was Harry supposed to know they were the same plant? Hell, Thalia hadn't known until less than half an hour before and she'd had a tutor for the whole summer!

Hermione also seemed to be reaching the pinnacle of frustration as she stood up and stretched her hand towards the ceiling, if it wasn't for the sheer annoyance Thalia felt towards their teacher, she would've laughed at her friend's reaction.

"I don't know," Harry spoke in a small voice. "I think Hermione does, though, why don't you ask her?" It was mostly the Gryffindors who laughed, although Daphne did giggle a little. Snape, however, was fuming. He snapped at Hermione to sit down before spinning towards Thalia.

The cold look in his eyes reminded her of her uncle's which instantly made her sit up with the proper posture, all her muscles tense.

"Let's try your cousin, Potter, let us see if she'll do any better." Everyone in the class was sat still, waiting for Thalia to mess up but she refused to be made fun off.

"A bezoar can be found in the stomach of a goat and is the antidote for most poisons." Snape nodded to prove she was correct and to continue, even if his eyes became even darker if that was possible for him.

"Monkshood and Wolfsbane are just that same plants, aren't they? So you asked Harry a trick question?" Snape frowned at being called out but sneered when she didn't continue to answer the last question.

"And? What was the answer to the final question?" His smirk made Thalia want to hex him but she didn't know any and she doubted that they would land anywhere other than her in detention. She paused and tried to remember any possible answer but, again, her mind drew a blank.

"I'm sorry, sir, but I can't seem to remember the answer to that question, please may you tell me it?" Snape looked shocked at her respect but quickly recovered and nodded at her.

"Five points to Slytherin for the correct answers and instead of giving a useless answer such as 'I don't know'. Well done for acknowledging that you don't know it and actually asking for the answer." Thalia sat there in shock, in fact, everyone did with the exception of Weasley and Draco. Draco smirked at her flabaghasted expression whereas Weasley scoffed at the points given to her.

"For your information, asphodel and wormwood make a sleeping potion so powerful it is known as the Draught of Living Death." Thalia nodded her head in thanks and began to write that down, they all did, except the Gryffindors.

"Well? Why aren't you writing that down?" The other half of the class scrambled for their quills and ink, hurrying to write down the facts before they were forgotten. Over all of the rustling and scratching of frantic quills, Thalia could hear Snape take away a point from Harry for his 'cheek'.

The lesson progress with the class splitting off into pairs, Thalia gladly working with Hermione - even if the girl was rather bossy - and concocting a potion that would cure boils. Unfortunately, as Hermione was a Gryffindor and Thalia was related to Harry and her mother, it seemed that their potion would never be perfect in the eyes of Severus Snape. Whether it was because they didn't stew their horned slugs for long enough or because their crushed fangs were not smashed into an extremely fine powder, according to Snape, it would never be as good as Draco's. Thalia was almost thankful at the fact that poor Neville royally screwed up his potion causing Finnigan's cauldron to melt.

What was not fine, however, was the way the blame somehow landed on Harry and not Neville's partner, Seamus Finnigan.

"You - Potter - why didn't you tell him not to add the quills? Thought he'd make you look good if he got it wrong, did you? That's another point you've lost for Gryffindor." Harry was about to retort when a hand shot out and grabbed his arm. His eyes followed the arm - somehow still oblivious to the giant purple bruise around the small wrist - to look at the face of his slightly annoyed cousin.

"Don't bother trying, Harry, you'll just lose more points." Harry wanted to argue but thought better of it when he glanced back at the potions professor who had turned his attention towards the Slytherin girl. Thalia let go of his arm and moved back to her desk, avoiding to look at their teacher.

"Miss Nott, stay behind after class." Apparently, the saying 'see no evil, hear no evil' didn't mean that evil was not there - or in this case, a potions professor who seemed to have it out for Thalia and Harry.

She nodded silently and remained quiet for the rest of the lesson, only murmuring to Hermione when need be, her mind was too busy racing as to why she may need to stay behind. Had he seen her bruise? She knew Harry had remained completely clueless because otherwise there would have been a massive argument that would've eventually involved the whole class and probably would've ended with Ronald Weasley being punched in the face or hexed.

The rest of the hour ticked by and at the end all of her friends slowly packed away. Even Draco stayed to see what was going to happen, although that was mostly out of intrigue rather than care.

"All of you, get out, I wish to speak with Miss Nott without you dunderheads present." At Snape's cruel drawl, everyone scrambled to leave the classroom, Harry and Theo being the last ones to exit the room, both sharing reassuring smiles at Thalia and giving promises that she would remain outside.

Thalia shuffled to Snape's desk and waited with bated breath to see what he wanted to talk about.

"Hold out your wrist, Miss Nott." _So he had seen it._ Gingerly, Thalia held out her left wrist and uncovered her wrist from under her sleeve. Snape took one look at her wrist and sighed, obviously frustrated.

"Your other wrist, Miss Nott."

She hesitated before raising her right wrist and slowly uncovering the coloured wrist - in Thalia's opinion it looked even worse than it did in the library. Snape sucked in a breath as he observed the clear handprint left on the delicate wrist.

"What happened?" Thalia spluttered about, trying to explain what happened without snitching on anyone but that quickly caused Snape to get angry.

"Miss Nott, can't you see I am trying to help, you must tell me what happened." His raised voice caused Thalia to whimper which, once she realised what she had done, she tried to cover up. Insufferably, Snape had a keen eye and ears for he lowered himself down so he could look into her eyes and calmly moved his hands to the side of his body.

"Miss Nott, contrary to your belief I am not going to hurt you. I merely wish to seek punishment for whoever has hurt you. They obviously have not been punished for you have not received medical attention for your injury, nor are you willing to if the fact that you have been trying to hide it all lesson." Thalia nodded and relaxed only slightly. She warily watched his hands subtly whilst nervously rubbing the hem of her sleeve.

"Ronald Weasley tried to forcefully escort me but Hermione and my cousins stopped him after a few minutes. Please, sir, I don't want this to become common knowledge and I hate the fact that most people in our year already know. He's been punished by his brothers and that is more than enough for me." The 'for now' part of her sentence remained unspoken but the message was received loud and clear.

Snape stood up to his full height and strode into his supply cupboard, leaving a baffled Thalia standing by his desk. He returned holding a small container and held it out for her.

"It is a salve that will heal your bruise. Only dab a small amount onto it every couple of hours and it should be gone by tomorrow." Thalia thanked him graciously before turning to leave.

"Make no mistake Miss Potter, I only did this because you are in my house. Make no mention of this to anyone or else you will have detention every day until your graduation, understood?" Thalia quickly agreed before rushing out, tucking the container into her pocket as she ran for the door.

Harry and Theo were waiting for her but everyone else seemed to have left.

"We told everyone to go to lunch and that we'd meet them there." Explained Theo and he held out his left arm for Thalia to take, which she didn't - making sure her wrist was still covered.

"So what did Snape want?" Questioned Harry curiously. Thalia took hold of his right arm and began walking between both boys on their way to the Great Hall.

"Oh, you know, he was just saying that I should have my hair fully up next time and perhaps I would get a better potion if I worked with a Slytherin next lesson." The lie was spun so quickly that it left Thalia feeling slightly impressed with herself.

"Oh, I guess that's why he wanted everyone to leave, I bet he wouldn't dare complement you in front of anyone." Theo was not wrong with his statement. They continued chatting and complaining about how biased Snape was and how it obviously wasn't fair that he had quizzed both Harry and Thalia for no reason at all. It was that topic that caused Harry to explode - wrongly time as well as they had just reached the Slytherin table.

"I don't understand why Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle or had to laugh! It was embarrassing enough that Ron was sniggering behind me, let alone people who I thought were friends." His loud exclamation drew the attention of the three people he was mainly complaining about.

"Complaining about us behind our backs, Potter? That's not very chivalrous or brave now, is it?" Draco's drawl caused both Theo and Thalia to sigh and sit down, wanting to eat as quickly as possible before everything exploded in anger.

"Says you Malfoy, was being my friend just a means to an end, so you could brag that you were friends with the boy-who-lived towards people that you think are below you?" The use of last names and the words thrown showed that it was about to blow up.

"No offence Potter but I don't need to be friends with you to be famous or influential. Unlike you, I'm not famous for something I did as a baby, I'm famous enough because of my name and that holds a lot more weight around the whole wizarding world than yours."

It was obvious that someone had to step in and the role became Thalia's.

"Okay boys, can we just calm down. Draco apologise for laughing at him, you too Greg and Vince. Harry apologise for being rude and implying that he is a glory seeker." Both boys glared at her, causing her to glare right back.

"I'm not going to apologise for saying the truth." _Harry, I could strangle you right now_ , thought Thalia.

"Why should I apologise for laughing? It was hilarious the way that he sat there looking like a flobberworm." Harry glared at Draco, his magic running riot on the table in front of him, plates began to float and rise up into the air. He looked as if he was about to retort but was interrupted by a sharp Scottish accent.

"What is going on here?" McGonagall looked expectedly at all three of them but Thalia didn't get the chance to answer.

"I'm sorry Professor, I was just realising I made a bad choice in a few friends of mine." Thalia had tears in her eyes as she watched her baby cousin turned his back on her and walk away.

She sat and looked down at the table, trying to hide the fact that she was crying by allowing her hair to hang down around her as it had finally completely fallen out of her plait.

"Thalia..." Draco trailed off, leaving his apology hanging.

"No, you don't get to apologise, all you had to do was not laugh or say you were sorry. But you couldn't even do that. Now you've ruined everything." Thalia stood and stormed out of the Great Hall, leaving Draco and Theo watching her retreating figure, both noticing the tears rolling down her cheeks.

Daphne came up behind Draco and slapped the back of his head.

"What did you do that for?" He asked angrily as he rubbed the back of his head.

"You may have just destroyed all chances of her bonding with one of her only cousins. You've broken up this friendship - yes Harry and Thalia didn't help the situation but you just couldn't back down. Your pride wouldn't allow it." Daphne also walked out of the hall, ready to go cry with her best friend over the fact that she may never get to hang out with Harry again.


	8. Chapter 8

**So... Hi? I know it's really late but better late than never right? I'm sorry, I've been ill this week and had quite a few tests and big projects due which took over my life. I don't know why but this chapter took me days to write and I still don't like it that much. Thank you to everyone who has followed, favourited or reviewed. You know the disclaimer by now, I doubt I need to say it every chapter. But anyhow, enjoy!**

* * *

 **Chapter 8**

11th September 1991.

When the boys first told her about their first flying lesson, Thalia was filled with joy and excitement. Her father had taught her how to fly when she was only four, according to him, she was a natural born chaser just like her Uncle James. However, her Uncle Emmanuel believed that the sport was too manly and skilled for a lady of "her station" which meant that the few summer holidays that she had stayed in Nott Manor she was forced to watch Theo and Blaise fly around the garden. Her only company being the house elves who rarely spoke to her unless to ask a question.

They were the most boring and painful holidays that Thalia had to suffer through - most recent one discluded of course.

However, her excitement was squashed slightly by Hermione and Daphne's nervous breakdown that occurred promptly after they heard the news about their first lesson.

"I can't possibly fly on a broomstick, what if I fall and die?!" Exclaimed Daphne as she began hyperventilating. Unlike Pansy and Thalia, the Greengrass sisters weren't allowed near a broom, even if it only hovered a few feet off of the ground - their mother's constant worry was suffocating even to children that weren't her own.

"I'm sure you'll be fine - we'll just be doing the basics today, barely even getting off the ground. Right, Pansy?" Pansy nodded in agreement as she wrapped an arm around Millie who was also dreading the lesson.

"But what if we lose control? Or do badly and people laugh at us?" Hermione's hair seemed to be sparking from the pure nervous energy that rolled off her in waves.

The boys weren't helping the situation as Draco strolled past, telling anyone who would listen about the time he'd narrowly escaped muggles in helicopters. Hermione looked fearful at his blatant over-exaggerations which proved that she believed the stupid imbecile.

"Don't worry 'Mione, I'm sure he's lying."

"How do you know?"

"Because his mother would have swaddled him and never let him out of her sight if she knew what he'd done." Stated Pansy plainly in a monotone voice. The girls all looked at her before bursting into laughter, the crisis averted for the moment.

"Hey, 'Mione, I don't suppose you could give this to Harry." Thalia held out a small note and held a hopeful puppy dog expression on her face. Hermione took one look at her face and sighed.

"I'm not a bloody owl." She said as she grabbed the piece of paper and walked off to find Thalia's cousin.

"What did the note say?" Asked Daphne curiously, colour returning to her face now that the thought of her future death experiences was forgotten.

"Oh you know, don't shame the family, make Hedwig proud, how's Draco's murder coming along? I hope you're ready to be beaten by me, you'll be a natural. You know, the normal." She shrugged and grinned at the girls before turning away and walking towards the Slytherin dungeons, set on feeding Felix before completing her homework.

"Wait. What was that middle one?" Pansy called after her. Thalia just turned back towards them and starting walking backwards, all the while holding a hand to her ear.

"What was that? I can't hear you!" She grinned again as she turned back around, walking the normal way once more.

"I know you can hear me, Thalia Euphemia Nott!" Pansy shouted after her.

Thalia waved her hand in goodbye but didn't reply.

"Oooh, I got told that-"

"-The use of the full name -"

"- Meant that you were in -"

"- Big trouble, isn't that right, Georgie?"

"Quite right, Freddie."

They both interlinked their arms through one of Thalia's and joined her in walking down the corridor.

"May I help you, gentlemen?" They barked out a laugh in unison.

"Why yes -"

"- You can."

"You can explain -"

"- Why the flower princess of Slytherin -"

"- Was calling you-"

"- By your full name." Her head snapped back and forth between the two as if they were chucking a quaffle to each other.

"Well..." She gestured for them to come closer as she looked around, suspiciously.

They obliged, curiosity getting the better of them.

"It's..." She trailed off again into a low murmur causing them to strain their ears closer to her head, unknowing of the fact that her arms had slid out from between theirs.

"None of your business!" She shouted as she grabbed their heads and gently shoved them together causing them to swear as they bumped heads. She began running off in the direction of the Slytherin common room hoping that she would get past the password before they could reach her.

She lasted a matter of metres before she heard the slapping of leather shoes on the hard stone floor as they began to chase her.

She ran past Draco, Greg and Vince, not even realising that they were there in her haste to get to the common room. Draco called after to her in confusion only to be barged into by the 2 third years that came roaring after the girl. Believing there to be trouble, he began to follow them at a sprint - Greg and Vince following slowly behind.

Thalia had nearly made it to the entrance of her common room when she felt an arm wrap around her waist as she was lifted into the air. She squealed as they began to tickle her, slowly making their way out of the dungeons.

"What should we do for punishment, Georgie?" Said the twin holding her, _Fred._

"Hmmm, I think the Giant Squid might teach her a lesson in manners don't you think, Freddie?"

"Don't you dare. Don't even think about-" She let out another scream as they returned to tickling her, she was surprised that Fred had managed to hold onto her writhing body.

"Weasleys." Draco's cold voice cut across their laughter as he stood in front of them. Greg and Vince railing slightly behind him, their breathing was wheezy at the sudden exercise.

"Malfoy." The twins said in unison.

"Draco-" Thalia began softly, trying to explain the situation.

Draco cut her off. "I'm sure that you don't care about propriety seeming as you live in a pig sty but the Nott family does and I know that they wouldn't appreciate it if you ruined the reputation of their daughter."

Fred's hands tightened in anger as he held Thalia. She tapped him on the shoulder causing him to look down at her and she gestured for him to place her down. She quickly smoothed her skirt which she had to admit, had ridden up during her tickle fight.

"Draco, it was just some fun."

"Is that what Marcus will perceive it as?" The mention of that horrid fifth year caused Thalia to look down at her hands and glare at them.

"No, but he's not here right now, is he?" She swiftly replied.

"Besides, it's not up to him to determine what she does. He's not her family." Cut in George as he came to step in front of Thalia.

Draco sneered, "How chivalrous of you two to protect her but you're protecting her from the wrong person. The right person is one of your many brothers." Thalia sighed as she watched George's back tense in front of her.

"Really, Draco?" She stepped around George, touching his shoulder reassuringly as she crossed over to where Draco was standing. She grabbed his arm and turned him around, pushing him to start walking.

"Thank you for keeping me entertain and give my love to the Giant Squid!" She mouthed the word 'sorry' at the Gryffindor third years before following Draco.

As she caught up with him, he grabbed her hand and held it tightly. "I need to tell you something."

Dread filled her stomach at all the possibilities that he may say. "Oh?"

"I received a reply from my father."

 _I wasn't even aware you had sent him anything_ thought Thalia as she looked at him in confusion.

"What about?" She questioned nervously.

"Flint. I told my father about his inappropriate actions towards which caused me to become concerned with a friend's reputation. He mentioned it to your uncle saying how his constant _stalkerish_ tendencies would look bad for your family name as he is below you. My father also said how if you were his daughter, he would stop Flint from even looking at you. I don't think your uncle was very happy at having his plan backfire but the Flint situation should be fixed soon."

Thalia shouted "Thank you" as she leapt at the blonde boy, her arms wrapped tightly around his neck. She meant it with every fibre in her body. He had just got rid of one of the biggest problems in her life by just a single letter. she knew it probably meant nothing to him but it meant everything to her. She was free.

"It was my way of saying sorry for being a complete flobberworm of a friend last week. I don't apologise for being rude to your cousin - he thinks that the world will just fall at his feet-"

"Like you?" Draco scowled at her comment but continued talking as if he hadn't heard her.

"As I was saying, Potter didn't even bother to learn about the world he was joining, even Granger did that. So, I won't be friends with him anytime soon but I'll be civil enough when you are around."

"Don't you mean you'll _try_." She teased mercilessly.

"Yes, I'll try. Come on, you've got to feed Felix before helping me with my Charms homework." She laughed as he led her to the common room, not even noticing that they were still holding hands. Even if Greg and Vincent did.

* * *

12th September 1991.

The morning before their first Quidditch lesson was interesting, to say the least. Draco and the rest of the pureblood boys were strutting into the Great Hall confidently, an identical smug smirk plastered across all of their faces. The muggleborns or half-bloods that had never flown before were anxiously sitting at their table, not touching any of their food. Thalia watched as Hermione sat reciting a load of tips to Neville and anyone else who was willing to listen.

Thalia was going to go over there to comfort Harry who had turned a pasty grey colour but was interrupted by the arrival of the post. An owl she recognised immediately landed in front of her, containing a small but thick letter in a cream envelope. In an elegant scrawl which seemed to be an oxymoron - that was Thalia's mother down to a T - was Thalia's name.

She ripped open the envelope and pulled out a small piece of parchment along with two pictures that were identical. Her eyes scanned the parchment quickly, absorbing all of her parents' words as if she was starved of them.

 **To my troublemaker,**

 **I miss you so much, the house is so quiet and clean without you traipsing through it like you have a dragon after you. I know in your last letter you said that you couldn't wait to fly again but I was also like that when I was in my first year and I still got nervous the morning before the first lesson.**

 **I know that Harry will definitely be anxious, maybe even scared - he can't remember ever flying before, even if he was a natural as a baby. I want you both to have a copy of this photo. It's me, your Uncle James and our friends during our first lesson. My friend Marlene loved to take photos, especially during first year - she loved to send them home to her little brother I think. I hope the situation with Draco, Harry and Ronald improves soon. The Weasleys are a good family once you get to know them, they just believe that you can only be good or bad and that your Hogwarts house determines that. Show them wrong.**

 **I love you so much and so does your father. I hope you will reply soon.**

 **Much love,**

 **Mum Xx**

Thalia looked at the pictures, instantly spotting her mother and her twin - they would've been identical if they were the same gender. They both wore Gryffindor ropes and seemed to be laughing at something someone else had said, in synchronisation, they seemed to move their hands to their hips and double over in laughter, somehow still staying perfectly seated on their brooms.

She rose from the Slytherin table and walked over to the Gryffindor table, where her cousin had been sitting last time she had looked up. As she arrived at the table she sighed as she saw that Draco was already there, holding up a glass ball of some kind with the Gryffindors all glaring at him, Harry and _surprisingly_ Ron Weasley were standing up and looking ready for a fight.

"What's going on?" Thalia asked causing everyone to look at her. Her eyebrows furrowed when she saw everyone become pale, Ronald included. She got her answer to the cause of their reactions as a sharp voice rang out from behind her.

"My point exactly, Miss Nott." The Scottish accent easily identified it as Professor McGonagall's voice. Thalia froze before turning around to look at the strict Transfiguration teacher.

"Malfoy's got my Remembrall, Professor." Thalia winced internally at Neville's statement. Being a snitch was never a good thing - a fact that Hermione had yet to learn.

Draco dropped the Remembrall back onto the table with a scowl.

"Just looking," He said before walking away with Vince and Greg trailing behind him. As soon as he left, Professor McGonagall also took her leave and turned back around to get to the teachers' table at the front of the hall. Thalia watched the intimidating women leave then looked at the three Gryffindors again.

"I'm sorry about Draco, Neville, he has yet to learn not to snatch or touch things that aren't his." Neville accepted the apology with a quick nod of his head and started eating his breakfast slowly. Hermione was still telling him a load of Quidditch facts, completely oblivious to what had just happened. Harry, Thalia and Ron were still standing awkwardly, observing each other with mild caution.

To break the awkward pause, Thalia thrust her letter and a copy of the photo towards Harry causing him to grab it and begin reading. Once his eyes reached the photo, it seemed he couldn't take his eyes off it - he barely even acknowledged the fact that Thalia took back her letter and wandered back to her table. As she glanced back, she saw Harry talking to Ron warily, showing him the photo.

* * *

Half three in the afternoon came and Thalia was standing patiently with her fellow Slytherin first years as they waited for the Gryffindors to get to Quidditch lesson.

The other half of the class had just arrived when Madame Hooch began her lesson.

"Well, what are you waiting for? Everyone stand by a broomstick. Come on, hurry up. Stick out your right hand over your broom and say UP!"

"UP!" Harry and Thalia's broom instantly flew up into their hands, followed closely by Theo, Draco, Blaise and Pansy. Seamus and Dean had to say it multiple times before their brooms jumped up into their hands. Harry began laughing at Ron, whose broom had flown up and hit him in the face.

"Shut up, Harry." Thalia's head perked up slightly as the Ginger used her cousin's first name, what had happened that morning after she'd left them?

Madame Hooch went around correcting everyone's hand positions - Thalia took great pleasure when she got told hers was perfect but Draco's was wrong. She then proceeded to show them how to mount their brooms without falling off either end. Thalia was annoyed at the fact that girls had to do this while wearing a skirt as the school gave them no alternative quidditch ware unless they joined the team.

"Now, when I blow my whistle, you kick off from the ground, hard. Keep your brooms steady, rise a few feet and then come straight back down by leaning forward slightly," Thalia was glad that they were going over the basics quickly as she hadn't been able to fly her broom for a good year. "On my whistle - three - two -"

Madame Hooch was cut off when Neville kicked off the ground early, obviously not wanting to be left behind, and began floating unsteadily on his broom. What Hooch hadn't noticed was the fact that Neville's broom seemed to be drifting higher and higher.

"Come back, boy!" All Thalia could see was the Gryffindor's pasty white face. Immediately, Thalia could see what was going to happen next.

"He's going to fa-" WHAM - She was cut off by Neville hitting the ground hard, his broom now floating off closer to the Forbidden Forest. Madame Hooch rushed over to him and Thalia followed closely behind.

"Is he okay?" Thalia asked as she knelt beside the Quidditch professor. Madame Hooch grabbed his arm, causing Neville to let out a whimper. Thalia heard the older women mutter something about a broken wrist as she began helping the Gryffindor boy rise to his feet.

"Come on, boy - it's alright, up you get." Thalia held onto Neville's good arm, offering support as the young boy rose unsteadily off the ground. Madame Hooch turned back to the class of first years.

"None of you is to move while Miss Nott and I take this boy to the hospital wing! You leave those brooms where they are or you'll be out of Hogwarts before you can say 'Quidditch'," She turned back to Neville and Thalia. "Come on, dear." Madame Hooch and Thalia began leading the tear-stricken boy to the infirmary.

"Thank you for letting me help, Madame Hooch." Stated Thalia respectfully as she half-carried Neville. The Quidditch instructor let off a huff of a laugh and shook her head.

"It wasn't about me letting you help, Miss Nott. I could see in your eyes and attitude that you were going to help either way. You've got a healer's nature about you." The Slytherin girl's eyes widened at the Professor's statement. _A healer's nature? She's not a bloody Hufflepuff_.

The older witch just laughed as Thalia told her her thoughts.

"You don't need to be a Hufflepuff to be a healer. Merlin's beard, there are plenty Slytherin's who are bloody good healers, it's a difficult job to get into but is very rewarding. It's not a bad thing that you want to help people."

Thalia thought about the profession. _Was it going to help bring equality to women?_ Not really, if she wanted to do that then she'd have to extremely influential, a member of the ministry or a job similar to that. Healing surely didn't have that much of a political influence at all.

She was about to reply when a groan from Neville turned both women away from the conversation at hand.

They'd just made it to the hospital wing when Madame Hooch promptly left, telling Thalia to explain the situation to Madam Pomfrey. The pair didn't have to wait long for the matron to notice their appearance.

"What is wrong with the boy?" Asked the older witch as she briskly walked over to the two first years, instantly noticing that Thalia seemed unharmed whilst Neville was crying pitifully at that point. She pointed her wand at the students, causing Thalia to tense up, only to realise that she was casting a diagnostic spell.

"Don't you worry, my dear. It's only a broken wrist, I can fix that in no time." She says, trying to reassure the hurt boy.

"Will you use Epsikey?" Questioned Thalia as she looked between the broken wrist and the healer that was standing in front of them.

"Yes, that seems to be the best course. I doubt he'll need Skel-grow for such a small and clean break," The nurse looked over at the small girl curiously. "You don't happen to want to be a healer, do you?"

Thalia's head snapped up from Neville's damaged wrist and looked up to Madam Pomfrey, staring at her intently.

"I don't know yet but it's handy to at least know how to heal yourself or a friend if we get injured. It'd stop a trip to St Mungo's every weekend." Madam Pomfrey barked out a laugh at she moved Neville's wrist so she had it in clear view. Thalia grabbed his other hand in comfort as he whimpered in pain.

"If there were more children thinking like you, I'd certainly be out of a job - Epsikey." Neville cried out as his wrist healed back together. He squeezed Thalia's hand sharply in pain but Thalia was relatively unbothered by it, he was quite weak for someone of their age, even in pain.

"It's a good thing that I am one of a kind then." Thalia flipped her hair over her shoulders and gave the nurse a grin, causing the older women to smile whilst shaking her head.

"You certainly are like your mother and uncle, Merlin rest his soul. I swear your mother used to do that same hair flick on a daily basis when she was your age. Your uncle was no angel, you have James Potter's grin, he used to use it when he was up to no good." Madam Pomfrey shook her head with the small smile still on her face. "It's like they are back again with you and your cousin here. Although, Harry does seem to act more like his mother with his personality, thank Merlin for that, I don't think we could cope with a mini James Potter running around as well as the Weasley twins."

Thalia grinned at the thought of Harry and her acting like their parents but internally, she deflated at the thought that she would never get to truly know what her aunt and uncle were like. Only memories and Harry kept them alive now.

"Now, Mr Longbottom, you'll have to stay here for a few more hours so that I may check your wrist again. Miss Nott, you are free to leave whenever you wish." With a nod in their direction, the healer spun around and began to walk back to her office.

Thalia chased after her quickly, a question on her mind.

"Madam Pomfrey!" The women in question paused and turned her body to face the Slytherin girl.

"Yes, Miss Nott?"

"Please, may you teach me how to heal. Just the basics of course, unless you're busy then I completely understand if you can't teach me." She cut herself off to take a breath, giving the matron to smile again.

"Yes, of course, If you are willing to learn then I am willing to teach."

Thalia stood in shock, _she actually said yes_ , before rushing over to the older witch and hugging her tightly, continuously repeating "Thank you," before letting go and running out of the hospital wing to find her cousins.

* * *

It took Thalia until dinner to find her cousins, only to find that a full-on war must have occurred whilst she was absent.

Theo, Daphne, Blaise and Millie all sat at one end of the Slytherin dining table while Draco, Pansy, Greg and Vince sat at the other end. Thalia took the empty space next to her cousin and watch him completely blank her as he continued to glare at Draco, who, in turn, was glaring straight back. It seemed that once Draco noticed that Thalia was there, his stare softened before looking away and beginning to talk to Pansy.

"Theo?" Thalia tried to gain the attention of her cousin so he could explain the situation to her but he was stubbornly glaring at Draco, with a clenched jaw which proved to Thalia that something big had happened. Instead of hitting him to get his attention, she winked at the trio of friends surrounding them.

"Hey Theo, do you think I could fit 10 marshmallows into my mouth?"

That drew his attention as he gave her a bewildered look before muttering "You're a hazard to society and yourself."

"And a coward." Chipped in Blaise causing the cousins to look over to him.

"Yeah," Agreed Daphne. "Do fifteen." The joke seemed to work as the tension dissolved into a fit of laughter.

The sixth years sitting next to the group all gave them dirty looks but they ignored them. They also didn't seem to see Draco and Pansy curiously glance up to their end of the table to see what all the commotion was about. They especially didn't see Pansy whisper something in Draco's eye causing his cheeks to pinken as he glared at her.

"So," Thalia began, chuckles still slipping out every so often. "Care to explain why you and Draco were glaring at each other?" A scowl reappeared on Theo's face and he shot a nasty look to the boy in question.

"After you left to take Longbottom to the hospital wing, _Malfoy_ picked up his Remembrall and wouldn't give it to Harry when he asked for it."

"I wouldn't say asked for it, he pretty much demanded that Draco gave it to him." Daphne interrupted causing Theo to swing his head her way.

"I'm telling the story!" He hissed which caused Daphne to sneer at him, unafraid. "Anyway, _Malfoy_ didn't give it back, instead he got on his broomstick and Harry, being the idiot that he is, followed him. Long story short, McGonagall took Harry away with her after she spotted him on the broom."

"Harry's going to be expelled?" Thalia couldn't believe it, Harry hadn't even been there 3 weeks and he was already being expelled. He'd have to go live with those horrible muggles again, her mum hadn't switched the blood spell over to her yet.

"No, look he's over there." Blaise pointed to her cousin who seemed to be happily sitting at the Gryffindor table, chatting to the Weasley twins.

"Why is Draco walking over there?" Asked Millie nervously, she seemed to be cuddling Duck again anxiously. How that cat hadn't clawed its way to safety, Thalia would never know. All she knew was that it had the patience of a saint.

"What do you mean?" Quizzed Theo as he began to stand up.

"There." They all followed Daphne's finger as it led them to Draco Malfoy who was, indeed, walking over to bother Thalia's younger cousin. Theo and Thalia rose together and began stalking over there, giving foul looks towards the self-appointed Slytherin King.

Just as they were about to step into the conversation, Draco, Greg and Vince sauntered away from the table. Well, Draco sauntered, Greg and Vince are both simply too big to move with enough grace as Draco. They left behind a flustered Harry and a smug Ronald Weasley.

"What did he want?" Probed Thalia cooly as she stood in front of the Gryffindor pair. Harry startled at her sudden arrival but Ron seemed unfazed.

"Um- well- erm."Spluttered Harry as he tripped over his words to try an explain the situation without mentioning he was going to duel Draco Malfoy later on that evening. Thalia raised her eyebrow perfectly as she waited for him to get his words sorted out.

"Malfoy wanted to see whether Harry was expelled or not," Ron explained plainly, causing Thalia and Theo to look over there in astonishment at the fact that Harry and Ron seemed to have become friends in the short period of a day.

"Well? Are you?" Thalia looked extremely serious at that moment and Harry had to gulp anxiously before replying to her.

"No, I'm on the Gryffindor Quidditch Team though." Thalia froze at his declaration.

"So that's why Draco looked so pissed off." Said, Theo, bluntly. Thalia was a little bit annoyed as well as being relieved, why was Harry getting rewarded for breaking the rules? What was Dumbledore's grand plan?

"What position are you going to be playing?" Asked Thalia curiously.

"The Seeker. although I'm supposed to keep it a secret so you can't tell anyone." Harry rushed out quickly, looking around to see if anyone was listening in.

Thalia nodded slowly, "So, to keep it a secret, you told Draco Malfoy. Literally, the worse person to tell a secret."

"What? No! I just told Malfoy that I wasn't expelled."

"Then why was he so annoyed when he left?" Thalia didn't think Draco hated her cousin that much, at least not enough that he'd be said that Harry hadn't gotten expelled.

"Must've been." The nonchalant way that Ron said that made Thalia suspicious. She couldn't figure out why but she didn't believe Ron or her cousin at that moment in time.

"Okay then... If everything is just fine, we'll leave you be." Harry smiled awkwardly at her and Ron waved them off happily, leaving Thalia planning on how to teach her younger cousin how to lie.

* * *

It was nearing 11 pm and Thalia knew for definite that something was wrong. She and Theo had been playing wizarding chess after they'd finished all their homework for the night and as it neared half ten, Draco, Greg and Vince had come downstairs from their dormitory, laughing about something. Thalia wasn't stupid, Draco wouldn't obnoxiously walk down from his dorm like that for no reason. Even if he was a drama queen.

"You know, Thalia, I'm surprised you haven't rushed out to try and stop your cousin from doing something stupid."

Thalia ordered her rook to move to E3 before turning to face the platinum blond boy.

"What are you talking about Draco?" He smirked when he saw the confused look on her face.

"Oh?" He began as he strutted over to the table where the Nott cousins were seated. "I guess your cousin didn't tell you everything. I was wondering why you hadn't tried to hex me yet."

"Spit it out, Malfoy." Theo's cold tone made Draco look at him sharply.

"Thalia, get your guard dog back on his leash." Theo jumped up at the insult, his wand ready in his right hand.

"Expelliarmus" Draco's spell caused Theo's wand to fly out of his hand, it flew into a corner of the Slytherin common room. Luckily the common room was relatively empty as everyone had proceeded to go to bed.

"What in Merlin's name are you doing?" Thalia was shocked at the attitude of the Malfoy boy. She shouldn't have been so surprised, both boys had similar personalities and used to have explosive arguments before the introduction of their wands.

"Why do you have to have such annoying cousins, Thalia? Saint Potter changes his loyalty at the drop of the hat, one moment he's friends with us, the next he's besties with Weasley, the same Weasley that left a bruise on your wrist. Oh don't think I didn't see it, you weren't exactly hiding it very well."

"What's he talking about, 'Lia?" Questioned Theo as he glared at Draco. Thalia didn't answer him, instead, she gestured for Draco to continue with his monologue.

"Potter and Weasley are going to be expelled tonight when they get caught out after curfew. Not even Dumbledore can argue with that without showing blatant favouritism."

"Well now you've told me, I'm going to go warn them." Thalia began to step around him, to the door of the common room but he purposely stood in front of her.

"I can't let you do that." She glared up at him, she wasn't much shorter than him but it was enough to infuriate her over the fact that she couldn't look him dead in the eye from this close.

"Try me, Malfoy." She ran around him and nearly made it to the door when she felt herself be picked up and thrown over someone's shoulder.

"How'd that work out for you, Nott?" Thalia could just feel the smugness radiated off of the git so she leaned up and pulled his hair.

"Ow, what the hell, Nott?" He dropped her to inspect the back of his head where she'd pulled his precious hair.

"That's for lifting me up without my permission." She slapped him around the back of his head sharply. "And that is for setting my cousin up for expulsion." She began walking for the entrance of the common room again.

"It's well past eleven now, you're too late to help now. You should just hope that he didn't go."

"He's a Gryffindor, of course, he went." She hissed but listened to his words as she stalked passed all the boys and up to the girls' dormitory.

"You know Draco, it's pretty obvious you like my cousin and that's why you don't like Harry and I because we take up a lot of her time and attention." Theo then moved to the corner of the common room, retrieved his wand and walked up to the dormitories, with Blaise following closely behind. This left a red-faced Draco Malfoy and Greg and Vince alone in the Slytherin common room at 11:47 pm.

"I do not like her." Muttered Draco as he, too, went up to bed.


	9. Chapter 9

**So... Slightly late again but Merry belated Christmas? And an early Happy New Year? Honestly I've been so busy with Family stuff that it has taken me a good week to finish writing this chapter. It's a bit of a filler chapter but it's kinda cute in mt very bias opinion. Thank you to everyone who reviewed, followed or favourited this story so far, you guys are amazing!**

 **You know the disclaimer but still, I don't own Harry Potter and I cry at night because of it (Lies).**

 **Also, lil question. Do you guys think I should write 2nd and 3rd year? Or should I go straight to 4th year? Please tell me your opinions because I can do either or it's just whether you want to speed this story up a little bit. Anyhow, ENJOY!**

 **Extra Note: Reupdating this chapter as a lovely guest by the name of Ryo pointed out that Thalia already knew about Harry being on the Quidditch team but I was a forgetful idiot.**

* * *

 **Chapter 9**

19th September 1991.

As per usual, Thalia began her Thursday by sitting next to Hermione in History of Magic, watching her friend furiously take notes as Professor Binns droned on about yet another goblin war. Whilst she would normally take notes in her lessons, Thalia found it was easier to fall into a daydream during History of Magic and learn through books. The books in question seemed to make the many wizarding conflicts and discoveries much more fascinating than the monotone voice of their dead professor.

However, in comparison to last week when she sat next to Draco, Thalia was unable to daydream for very long thanks to the constant sharp elbow digging into her side.

"Will you stop elbowing me?" Hissed Thalia angrily to Hermione who had her gaze stuck firmly onto her notes.

"Will you stop daydreaming and actually make notes?" Whispered Hermione back causing Thalia to lean back in shock.

"I thought you said that you didn't care if I made notes or not." Hermione huffed, pausing her note taking to glare up at Thalia before quickly resuming previous actions.

"I do care, I don't want you to fail, I only said that because you were complaining." Thalia gasped quietly.

"Me? Complain? You've got the wrong girl, Miss Granger." Hermione cracked a small smile at Thalia but then shh'd her and continued note taking for the rest of the lesson - obviously assuming that she would never win the argument.

At the end of the lesson, the Slytherin and Gryffindor first-years had a study period meaning that they all wandered off to certain areas of the castle. As Thalia was still annoyed with Draco, Greg and Vince for baiting her cousin into a midnight duel, she tended to avoid Slytherin orientated areas meaning that her other friends and her frequented the library on a regular occurrence.

"I just don't understand why you can't take notes in his lessons." Argued Hermione as she began grabbing books off the shelves.

"I just can't take notes when someone is just continuously talking in such a boring way!" Thalia started to raise her voice in annoyance only to look around sheepishly at the glares she was getting from other students.

"Well, how are you supposed to pass History of Magic if you aren't bothering to write the content down?" Hermione murmured. She carefully placed her large stack of books onto their chosen desk. Thalia glanced down at the pile quickly and noticed that underneath the first History of Magic book there was an array of books specialising in magical creatures.

"I write the notes down in my study periods, out of the textbook. So, technically, I am learning the exact same as you, just in a different way. You have to admit that I am learning more than most people in our class." This caused Hermione to sigh and slowly nod her head in agreement. Before they could argue anymore, Thalia decided to change the topic quickly.

"So, what magical creature are you researching?" To Thalia, her comment sounded harmless, merely a speck of curiosity as to what her friend was doing. Yet, Hermione seemed to freeze before avoiding all eye contact.

"I'm not researching any magical creatures, I'm adding onto my History of Magic notes." Thalia gave her a look as if to say 'do you really think I'm that stupid?' to which Hermione promptly ignored. Thalia rolled her eyes at the Gryffindor's theatrics before grabbing the pile of books that Hermione had collected and removed the top book so that the many textbooks of creatures and beasts were in view.

"Subtly is not a Gryffindor's best friend Hermione, nor am I stupid and it's rude to pretend that I am. My cousin may be oblivious but it's a male orientated gene in the Potter family." Hermione had the decency to blush and bow her head slightly in shame.

"I didn't mean to make you presume that I thought you were stupid, I just hoped that you wouldn't notice." Hermione quickly began covering up the books again whilst looking around the library - most likely checking to see if anyone was eavesdropping. "I don't want anyone to notice what I'm doing because I might get in trouble, especially with the teachers."

Thalia cocked her head to the side, confused. "Why would the professors tell you off for researching? Those books aren't out of the restricted section so there shouldn't be a problem."

Hermione leaned toward Thalia more before glancing around again. "I'm sure your cousin told you that when he went out to meet Malfoy for that stupid duel-"

"What do you mean he went to meet Malfoy? He told me that he didn't bother going!" Snapped Thalia angrily at the thought of her cousin's lies and pure idiocy.

Hermione went pale. "He didn't tell you?"

"Well, obviously not." Snarled Thalia, "But you're still going to tell me because I'm your friend and it involves my idiot of a cousin."

"Ron Weasley and Neville Longbottom were also there." Thalia's quill bent in half as she heard who was also present at the midnight fiasco.

"Why on Merlin's beard was Weasley present? And how did you and Longbottom get involved?" Questioned Thalia.

"You know when Malfoy taunted Harry about being kicked out after the first Quidditch lesson?" Thalia nodded her head quickly, causing Hermione to continue. "Well, he challenged Harry to a duel and Ron Weasley accepted for him and said that he was Harry's second."

Thalia breathed deeply, trying to calm herself down before her magic exploded out of her due to her fury.

"That explains why Ron was there, not why you or Neville though." Hermione looked down at her book quickly and began reading it to avoid Thalia's heated stare.

"Well, I heard about their plan so stayed up to stop them and when they were about to leave the Common room, I tried to stop them but they wouldn't listen so I followed them outside the Gryffindor Tower only to find Neville asleep outside." Thalia raised an eyebrow in question to Neville's predicament. Hermione continued her story as if she hadn't seen Thalia. Which she hadn't.

"Neville and I were going to go back into the tower only to find that the Fat Lady had wandered off somewhere so we couldn't get back in." Thalia held back a laugh at the annoyance that fluttered across Hermione's face at the mere memory of that night.

"That's why I'm glad that the rest of the houses aren't dependent on a painting." Chimed Thalia causing Hermione to glower at her for a few short seconds.

"Shut up. Anyway, we followed the boys to the trophy room only to nearly be found by Peeves and then we were chased by Filch and Mrs Norris. I unlocked a door so that we could hide from them but after they left, Neville quickly pointed out that there was this massive three-headed dog behind us that was standing on a trapdoor. We quickly got out of there and returned to the Gryffindor Tower before we got seen."

Thalia was shocked, to say the least. Firstly due to the fact that her cousin didn't tell her about any of this information. Secondly, because there was a Cerberus in the school and thirdly, it was most likely on the third-floor corridor so what was it guarding?

"There's a Cerberus in the school?" Choked out Thalia causing Hermione to whip her head out of the book and look towards Thalia in awe.

"How did you know what species it was, just by a small description that I said?" Thalia waved off her awe in a humble fashion but was quietly preening form the praise.

"It's no big deal but after Theo gave me Felix, I read Newt Scamander's 'Fantastical Beasts and Where To Find Them' which states that they are extremely vicious and very strong. They originate from Greece, I think, which would explain Greek mythology. Obviously, muggles back then saw magical creatures more frequently as they weren't hunted as much but they explained their appearance by linking them to their gods."

Hermione looked like a goldfish with her mouth wide open.

"What?" Questioned the Slytherin girl self consciously.

"How do you know all of that?"

"As I said, I read the book after I first got Felix. There wasn't much on the care of those creatures but I assumed that there wouldn't be due to the fact that the book was published back when magical creatures were being severely hunted."

Hermione still looked at Thalia in disbelief. "But how did you remember all of that information?"

"You don't need to sound so surprised," Joked Thalia. "I can remember most things easily enough if I read them a few times."

Hermione shook her head. She turned back to her pile of books and grabbed Fantastical Beasts and Where to Find Them then began to immerse herself into it, hungrily absorbing the information.

"I don't think I can make notes right now so I'll return your unneeded books back to their proper shelves." Hermione barely acknowledged her goodbye, not that Thalia minded. She split the giant pile into two - one pile that had useful information on a Cerberus and one pile that wouldn't help at all.

She lifted the unneeded books up into her arms and began her slow procession back to the necessary section. The number of textbooks wasn't a large amount but still enough to prohibit Thalia's sight slightly, at least, that was what she was going to blame if she walked into anything.

It took her a good half an hour to return all the books seeming as everyone and their aunt had decided to visit the Library on that exact study period. With the last book returned to its rightful home, Thalia spun around and began to head back to Hermione.

They - meaning all of the Slytherin first years - had recently been taught to be constantly aware of their surroundings and Thalia could've kissed Lux for the new skill, especially when she noticed her cousin sitting at a desk in the middle of the Library alongside a Weasley that she just couldn't stand. Unfortunately for Thalia, since her mother's letter, Harry seemed to be trying to make amends (For what, she did not know) and be friends with Ronald.

Thalia decided to confront the two imbeciles in an attempt to try and fathom why they seemed to have no self-preservation or brain cells.

"Cousin, Weasley." Thalia greeted, albeit a little bit too coldly but it was too late to say anything now.

Harry lifted his head quickly from the book 'Quidditch Through The Ages' and smiled awkwardly when he saw his cousin staring at him with her hands on her hips - a gesture he had to seem his Aunt Petunia pull too many times.

"Nott." Thalia barely glanced at the Redhead, too busy trying to figure out a way to manipulate the conversation to her benefit.

"I thought this was a study period, Cousin, which is where you do school work. Last time I checked, reading Quidditch Through the Ages does not fit into the curriculum." Harry began to stutter out a poor explanation which almost made Thalia take pity on him. However, she hardened her resolve at the thought of her cousin hiding secrets from her.

"We were reading it to help our understanding of Quidditch, to help us in our Quidditch lessons." Ronald tried to explain, obviously trying to cover up Harry's terrible excuses.

Thalia leaned forward slightly, resting a hand on the book in question. "Ronald, you have a tell when you lie, your ears go bright red. Do you want to try telling me the truth now?"

Ron spluttered, his whole face going red from being called out on his lie. "I'm not lying and my ears aren't red." He argued.

"If you were worried about improving your flying skills then you would've read it before the lesson last week, not after the second lesson. Besides, I know for a fact that you were probably taught when you were younger, all purebloods or half-bloods were. Anyway, Harry doesn't need to improve, he's a natural. So, do you want to try again, perhaps I should give you two a minute to let you two get your story straight." Thalia left them alone and briskly walked back to the desk where Hermione was still reading.

"Hermione, I'm going to go sit with my cousin for the rest of the study period - remember to eat something and not stay here over lunch." The bushy haired girl barely registered what Thalia said, leaving Thalia to shake her head in exasperation whilst grabbing her quills and her bag. She walked slowly back to the two boys, allowing herself time to listen into their current argument that she had obviously caused.

"-my cousin, I think I should tell her." That was obviously Harry.

"She's a Slytherin, she'll go tell everyone and Wood said to keep it a secret." Who, in the name of Salazar Slytherin, was Wood?

"She can keep a secret, especially if I ask her to."

"I don't trust her."

"I'm not asking you too, but she's my cousin and I trust her. It's not exactly like we can lie to her." Thalia mentally cheered for her cousin, agreeing with his points that he'd made. Gryffindors were not made for keeping secrets - especially from family. She rounded the corner and took a seat next to Harry, inwardly smirking as she watched them fall silent immediately.

"So, Harrison, have anything to tell me?"

Harry flushed at the use of his full name, "Before I tell you, can you promise me that you won't tell anybody about this conversation." Thalia mulled over the statement, looking for any loopholes but not finding them. She cursed at his wording internally whilst externally agreeing to the promise.

Ron still seemed sceptical but Thalia and Harry didn't care. They moved closer together so that Harry could whisper in her ear.

"I'm the new seeker on the Gryffindor Quidditch team." Thalia looked at him in surprise, her eyes wide open in shock before quickly schooling her features back into a neutral expression. Hadn't he already told her that a few days ago? Surely he would habe remembered? Then again, seeing a Cerberus up close probably made him forget a few things from that day.

Internally, she had been at war with herself for the past week - should she be happy that Harry goes onto the Quidditch team? Mad that the rules were being bent for him? Furious at Dumbledore's transparent attempt to soften Harry so that he could be manipulated?

Externally, however, she knew that she had to show Harry support, it would help him trust her more and they would avoid getting kicked out of the Library due to a shouting match. She didn't have many other places she could go that Draco couldn't or wouldn't find her.

"Congratulations Harry, I'm sure Uncle James and Auntie Lily would be really proud of you. Have you told my mum? She'd be ecstatic, she'd probably send you a massive letter full of stories about your dad. Did you know he was a Chaser? He also became Quidditch Captain, I think my mum might have some pictures - she was a bit of a photographer when she was younger." She knew that she had reacted correctly when Harry's smile broke into a full-on grin and he hugged her tightly.

"You really think so? It'd be amazing to be Quidditch Captain just like my dad." His happiness seemed to be contagious as she couldn't help but grin back at him. It nearly deterred her from her plan to question him more about the midnight duel.

"As great as that is, Harry," His smile seemed to fade a bit at her less than happy tone. "I also wanted to ask you as to why you lied to me." Harry frowned slightly before pulling her into a side hug.

"Well, Wood told me to keep it a secret-" She waved him off slightly.

"No, no, not about that, You already told me that last week, you must have forgotten. I meant about the night of the duel. You told me that you hadn't gone." Harry's smile and joyful mood had all but disappeared as he glanced back at Ron who had gone suspiciously quiet.

"I didn't want you to be angry or disappointed with me." Thalia sighed at his broken look, both he and Theo's puppy dog eyes worked on her too well and they knew it.

"If you had told me from the beginning, I wouldn't have been angry or disappointed with you. All Potters do stupid things, just ask my mum. I'm just annoyed that you didn't tell me and I'm angry that you lied to me." Thalia sighed and looked down. Time for the guilt trip. "Why don't you trust me? Is it something I did?"

Harry looked so guilty and ashamed at that point that Thalia was about to hug him again. But she had to know the truth to make sure that he didn't plan to get himself killed. A Cerberus is a dangerous breed for a reason.

"No, you did nothing wrong. I just didn't want to get you involved," Harry pulled her into another hug and they didn't even notice when Ron walked off, finding the entire situation awkward.

"Why am I not allowed to be involved?" Thalia questioned lightly.

"Because... Theo told me that you had an argument with Malfoy over it and I didn't want to make your friendship any worse with the fact that..." Harry trailed off causing Thalia to look up at him. What was he about to say?

"The fact that?" Thalia knew she wasn't exactly being subtle but she had to know what her cousin was hiding. She was fed up of being kept in the dark about things.

"The fact that we ended up on the third-floor corridor that Dumbledore told us not to go into unless we wanted a painful death." Thalia exhaled in relief, she knew about that from Hermione so that meant that there probably wasn't any more secrets between them.

"Is that it?" Her blatant disregard to the situation made Harry frown down at her. She blushed lightly as she shuffled in her seat.

"I saw Hermione researching about magical creatures and so I asked her about it and she may or may not have told me about the duel..." She trailed off as she looked at Harry, her cousin seemingly getting madder and madder at the thought of Hermione snitching him up.

"She told you?"

Hermione shrugged but was internally panicking, trying to find a way to calm Harry down. "I asked her what she was researching and she tried to deflect but I know her tells so she gave in and told me the truth and I worked out that it was a Cerberus that was guarding the trapdoor. In her defence, she thought you had already told me." The Slytherin girl had spun the story a little bit different from how it had actually occurred but she didn't want her cousin having a go at her friend.

Harry sighed and was about to reply when they were interrupted by the return of Ronald Weasley.

"Come on Harry, it's time for lunch and I'm starving." Thalia wrinkled her nose at the reminder of the boy's atrocious manners that made her pity the entire Gryffindor house.

"Yeah okay, just let me return this book. Are you coming with us, Thalia?" She shook her head and mentioned how she was going to eat with Hermione. Thalia pretended that she didn't see Ronald's disgusted face at the mere mention of her friend. Instead, she walked back to her original table where she thought Hermione would still be. Although it seemed that luck was not on her side as the Gryffindor bookworm was no longer engrossed in her books but seemed to have taken Thalia's advice for once.

This left Thalia walking alone down to the Great Hall, only to be ambushed on the third floor by a pair of Gryffindors.

"Well look at this, a little snake all by herself."

"I wonder what we should do to her?"

"Shove her into a classroom alone with Peeves?"

"Throw her into Filch's office with a load of dungbombs?"

"How about, we put her and Mrs Norris into a suit of armour?"

"How about you escort me down to the Great Hall?"

"Nah."

"Where's the fun in that?"

Thalia was beginning to get annoyed, her stomach rumbling at the thought of food.

"Come on, George, Fred, this is getting ridiculous - you do this to me every day."

"At least twice, isn't that right, Freddie?"

"That is correct, Georgie, it's now our tradition."

Thalia faked a gasp and held her hands to her chest. "A whole tradition? Just for me?"

The twins nodded in unison before grabbing one of her arms each and pulling her along to the Great Hall.

"Now, we heard that little stomach of yours," Thalia's face bloomed red in embarrassment. "but don't you worry, Fred and George will make sure you eat properly."

"Even if that means we have to drag you to the Gryffindor table ourselves."

"I'm perfectly capable of feeding myself." Argued Thalia as she tried to pull her arms out of their grasps.

"Stop resisting- come on- just a little bit-" Fred seemed to have enough at that point (At least, in a joking manner) and quickly grabbed her bag off of her shoulder and passed it to George. He then promptly lifted her up and spun her so she somehow ended up on his back.

They continued to stroll down the last few flights of stairs, Thalia had stopped protesting against her unvoluntary piggy-back after they began to sing Celestina Warbeck at the top of their lungs.

Fortunately for Thalia, they let her walk into the Great Hall on her own two feet but the entire hall still went silent as they watched the first year Slytherin, know as the Slytherin Princess, walk willingly to the Lions' table and sit down for lunch. She sat down opposite Hermione who smiled at her gratefully - Thalia had noticed how not many people in the Gryffindor house go along with the muggleborn - and the twins sat either side of her, not so subtly trying to protect her from the unwelcome stares of the other lions.

"Don't you lot have something to do other than stare?" Shouted George as he looked around the hall. At his question, most people went back to minding their own business with the exception of Thalia's Slytherin friends, some of which - aka Pansy, Draco, Greg and Vince - continued glaring at the twins before looking at Thalia with a look of betrayal. Whereas, the rest of her friendship group smiled at her slowly, Theo giving her the smallest smile whilst Daphne gave her a great big grin.

"So, Hermione, what do you have planned for the rest of today?" Asked Thalia as a conversation starter.

"Oh well, my parents sent me some new books for my birthday so I'm going to finish my homework then spend the rest of my evening reading those." At the mention of the word 'birthday' Thalia's head snapped up from her plate and looked to the older girl with wide eyes.

"It's your birthday and you didn't tell me?" Her voice was raised at the end so it sounded as if she was asking a question but all it did was draw the attention of the Weasley twins who had been previously having a conversation over Thalia's head.

"Whose birthday is it?" Quizzed George from Thalia's right whilst Fred leaned forward slightly.

"I don't know, Georgie, but considering our little snake's shocked face, I'm willing to bet it's probably Granger's."

"Does that mean we can have a party?"

"No!" Exclaimed Hermione, she blushed a bright red as she tried to avoid the twins' eyes. "I don't want a party."

"But we have to get you something," Insisted Thalia. "It's your 12th birthday, you have to celebrate it somehow."

"I don't mind, I normally just spend the day with my parents after school."

"You went to school before you came to Hogwarts?" Hermione nodded.

"Yeah, everyone in the Muggle community goes to primary school."

They then launched into a conversation about the differences in education between the wizarding and muggle world. To say that Thalia felt out of her depth was, to say the least. At the end of lunch, she felt so much more educated and understanding of the other world that she had never given much thought towards beforehand.

As they were walking out of the great hall after eating, Thalia quickly made sure to whisper something into George's ear and made him promise to tell Fred and no one else. The rest of the day dragged slowly causing Thalia to go nearly insane with impatience. She fidgetted in the rest of her lessons and barely talked to anyone, all she said was for Theo and Harry not to create an intervention simply because she would be back to normal in no time.

Once she was finally let out of the garlic filled room in which Defence Against The Dark Arts was taught, she ran all the way to the Slytherin Common Room, not waiting for anyone to escort her or even accompany her. All that was left behind was the array of classmates, varying from concerned to confused then to indifferent as they all watched the Slytherin Princess run in an unseemly manner.

Thalia threw her bag onto her four-post bed before promptly running back out of her dormitory. She was about to run back out of the Slytherin common room when Theo grabbed her arm. They were both panting deeply so Thalia took a quick reprieve from running, giving her older cousin time to question her sanity.

"What in Merlin's beard are you doing? Are you insane?" Theo was evidently concerned yet Thalia laughed it off.

"Insane? Probably," She spun round to continue running again but was unable to due to the hand still wrapped around her thin arm. She raised her eyebrow in question towards her cousin. "Why are you still holding onto my arm? I've got to go."

"Go where?"

"Places! Theo, I have things to do, places to be. I can't dilly dally all day."

"What places? What have you got to do?" Thalia rolled her eyes.

"It's a surprise, live a little!" Theo sighed and let go off her arm slowly.

"Fine. But I don't like surprises." Thalia bounced up on her tiptoes and pressed a kiss onto his cheek in thanks.

"This one you will." With that, she ran back out of the door before making a turn towards the Hufflepuff common room. She'd been passed in many times but she'd never been in it before. And she wasn't planning on it today. Instead, she was using it as a meeting point, not wanting the twins to see inside the Slytherin common room.

"About time, we've been here ages, haven't we Freddie?" Joked George as they scrambled up from where they had been sitting.

"Oh I'm ever so sorry to keep you waiting, maybe you should teach me how to find and use the secret passageways so I'd never be late again?"

Fred laughed. "We're showing you the kitchens, that's a start, is it not?"

"It is," Agreed George. "So what are we getting out of it?"

"Are you sure you weren't supposed to be in Slytherin?" Asked Thalia seriously. The boys gasped but then suddenly leaned forward, their heads either side of Thalia's, and whispered in her ears.

"That was our second option but we chose Gryffindor."

Thalia blushed at the close proximity to the boys and allowed them to drag her towards a painting containing a fruit bowl.

"All you have to do is tickle the pear like so," Fred tickle the pear causing it to let out a quiet giggle as it opened into a room just as large as the Great Hall, if not bigger. It shared a strong resemblance to the room that must've been directly above it, especially with the four large oak tables that represented each house. The level of chatter that surrounded the room fell silent as the heads of many house elves turned to face the now open door.

"Hello, Hogwarts elves!" Greeted George as he stepped forward. It was as if he had broken a spell with the amount of noise that came from the elves as they rushed forward to be of any use.

"How can I's be helping yous misters?"

"What is it that yous be needing?"

Various questions and the food was being chucked about that Thalia began to feel overwhelmed by the sheer welcome of the house elves of Hogwarts.

"Excuse me, as lovely as your eclairs are, we on here on business," Fred spoke loudly to be heard over the top of the chatter but as soon as he spoke, the elves all went quiet.

"We is not putting anything in the foods again, Misters." Stated one little brave house elf as she stepped forward to confront the resident troublemakers.

The twins chuckled. "Don't worry Merrie, we aren't here on pranking business." All the elves seemed to deflate out of relief at George's words, causing Thalia to giggle. The giggle brought her to the attention of the house elves and she decided then was the best time to speak.

"Um, please may you help me to bake a cake and perhaps a few treats for my friend's twelfth birthday?" They instantly jumped to action and began to pass her many different types of cake.

"Hang on! As much as I appreciate your cakes, I would like to help bake and decorate the cake. As long as that is okay with you all." They seemed to preen at her praise and Merrie grabbed her hand and pulled her over to the ovens.

"What is little miss wishing the cake to be made of?" Thalia was stubbed for a second, what flavour was Hermione's favourite? She remembered watching her eat a traditional Victoria sponge which should hopefully be easy enough to make.

"Perhaps a Victoria Sponge cake? And if a few of you guys would like to be extra helpful, please may you bake some cookies and other little treats?" Four other elves nodded happily and set to work, instantly creating the dough and other sweet mixtures. This left Merrie and Thalia to begin making the cake. They designed it to that it would have five different sized layers, bringing it to reached Merrie's chin, and would have homemade strawberry jam in it alongside homemade cream. Whilst Thalia was stirring the jam, Merrie was using magic to stir the massive bowl full of cake mixture.

An hour later and the cake was finally assembled, Thalia's hair had been thrown up into a ponytail and her uniform was covered in flour, cream and jam but she didn't care as she stared proudly at her creation. The elves had baked an array of shortbread, chocolate chip cookies, muffins and eclairs. Dinner was about to begin in a matter of minutes and the plan was set for the cake and treats to arrive alongside the other desserts. All that was left was for Thalia to clean up which was easily done with the click of Merrie's fingers.

After a mass group hug in which Thalia nearly fell to the floor, the small Slytherin girl ran back up the Great Hall and sat next to Hermione in an empty seat that the twins had spared for her.

"What are you doing sitting at this table?" asked Hermione, Harry also looking interested in the answer.

"Well I wasn't going to leave my friend alone on her birthday now, was I?" Hermione hugged her and they continued on with their meal. Thalia could feel all of the teachers and most of the Slytherin house's eyes watching her the whole meal, not that she cared at all. If there was one thing her mother taught her, it was to care about what you thought about yourself and nobody else.

She jiffled in her seat just before dessert was served but the wait was worth it to see Hermione's face as a giant Victoria Sponge appeared in front of her with twelve candles on it and a small floating banner with the words 'Happy Birthday Hermione!' on them. Her other friends gasped as their favourite treats appeared in front of them and everyone began to tuck in. Thalia and the surrounding Gryffindors all sang Hermione happy birthday and cheered as she blew out the candles. The cake then magically cut itself into equal slices thanks to the elves' magic and everybody began to dig in. Hermione grinning from ear to ear as she enjoyed the biggest slice of cake.

Overall, Thalia thought, it was a good day.


	10. Chapter 10

**So... I'm so sorry for being so late but I do want you guys to understand so here are my reasons for being so late. Reason 1: My nanny died a few weeks ago and I've had to make sure my mum is okay and I'm going to doing a reading at her funeral which is stressing me out a bit. Reason 2: After the chrismas holidays it seems that all the teachers suddenly remember that they have to set a tonne of homework which I still haven't caught up on yet. Reason 3: I kept having different ideas for this chapter meaning that i'd get a thousand wourds in then restart which is stupid I know.**

 **Thank you Seira228 for reviewing on my last chapter! And thank you for everyone who has followed or favourited this story so far! You guys are awesome! I hope you enjoy this chapter but this is one of my favourites so far even if it was one of the most difficult to write.**

 **Disclaimer - I don't own any of this except stuff you didn't know :)**

* * *

 **Chapter 10**

31st October 1991.

To say that colds and illnesses were inevitable at a school like Hogwarts was an understatement, to say the least. The Scottish autumn was colder than most of Britain and the fact that the castle was only heated by candles and fires didn't help the matter either. Even if the older years and teachers were using heating charms to their hearts' content. It didn't prevent the younger years from acquiring numerous illnesses then spreading them through the castle.

What had begun as a minor cough during the second week of October, had bloomed into a full-blown sickness with pounding headaches and the occasional regurgitating of food by the time that All Hallow's Eve had come around. Many of the first years had had a brush with the bug but all had recovered quickly after a quick pepper-up potion which left many with steaming ears for hours after.

None, however, had got sick to the extent of Thalia. She forced herself to stay in bed after that morning's disasters.

The morning of the 31st of October began with Thalia waking up with a mild headache, nothing to be too concerned about, yet enough for Thalia to resemble a hag - according to Theo at least. Most likely due to the fact that she had gotten a maximum of 3 hours sleep over the past two days thanks to her body feeling deathly cold, no matter the mountain of layers she had piled upon herself in an attempt to sleep.

She stumbled into the Great Hall and sat at the Slytherin table, not even registering that she was sitting between Adrian Pucey and Montague - both fifth years that were on the Quidditch team - neither of which had spoken a single word to her in her two months of being at Hogwarts. She didn't notice the shocked faces of her friends as they sat a little way down the table, nor the concerned faces of Theo, Harry or Draco - the former two glancing at each other, their faces plastered with worry for their cousin. The latter of the trio quickly covered his worry and wore his poised mask once more.

There, she grabbed a few pieces of toast as well as some baked beans and began to eat at a relatively slow pace. She only managed a single slice of toast before clutching her stomach, a wave of nausea rushing through her. It went away just as quickly as it came, leaving her to quickly forget about it in favour of the glass full of pumpkin juice in front of her. Unfortunately, all the drink did was bring her nausea back, leaving her to clutch her stomach even tighter. She stood up and proceeded to walk to her first lesson, only to be ambushed by her cousins, both of which grabbed her by one of her arms and started to march her toward the hospital wing.

Against her protests, they dragged her onto a bed and Harry waited with her whilst Theo went to get Madame Pomphrey. The older women swiftly walked back over to Thalia, with a pepper-up potion in hand.

"You'll be as right as rain in a minute, Miss Nott, you just need to drink this." Stated Madame Pomphrey as she shoved the vial into the sick girl's hand. Thalia clasped the vial tightly before swirling it around, looking at the contents - the colour didn't seem all that harmful and nor did the smell but Thalia had drunk enough of these potions over the years to know the effects of drinking one. She would have much preferred it if she didn't have to walk around with steam coming out of her ears for the next hour or so.

However, one look at Theo showed her that if she didn't drink the potion, he would force it down her throat, in a sort of brotherly and caring way. So, with that threat looming over her head, she downed the potion in one go and handed the vial back to the nurse, closing her eyes and grimacing when she felt the steam blasting out of her ears. Although, she had to admit that she did feel a lot better afterwards. She pretended that she didn't notice Theo send Harry a relieved look over the top of her - he always hated her getting sick, especially after the death of his mother.

"You should be back to normal in a minute or two, but if you feel yourself becoming worse then you should come straight back, understood?" Thalia nodded quickly in agreement, merely as a way to get out of the hospital wing as fast as possible.

The trio left and headed towards their first class of the day - Herbology - where they were introduced to Bouncing Bulbs, a rather harmless plant which had many useful properties, especially in potions. It got its name from the fact that it bounced around if not restrained properly. A fact that Thalia learnt the hard way when Harry's bulb wriggled free from his grip, smacked him right in the face before bouncing into Thalia, causing her to drop her own bulb which also bounced into her face. Unfortunately, not only did they get told off by Professor Sprout, but also were laughed at by all of their friends - Thalia suspected that Draco was laughing at Harry more whilst Ronald was teasing her to his heart's content.

It was obvious that the potion had worked and that the fresh air from walking to the greenhouse had kept any nausea at bay, the only downfall of Herbology was the strong smell of manure and fertilisers that reeked havoc upon Thalia's nose causing her to suffer minor waves of nausea the quickly passed, so fast that some of the time Thalia barely noticed a change in herself. Not that she could've possibly noticed the fact that every few minutes her skin turned a pasty white that could rival a vampire's.

Thalia knew that the potion had merely dissipated her illness for the current moment and she also knew that it would most likely come back after the two hours that the potion worked for. She dreaded the constant visits to the infirmary if only for the fact that she could only take the pepper-up potion every four hours too make sure that she didn't become dependent or even addicted to them. Madame Pomphrey had enough of the fifth, sixth and seventh years suffering from those addictions to worry about a little first year.

Thalia didn't know whether she was lucky or unfortunate to have double Herbology on the day that her senses were more fragile than normal. On the plus side, the occasional breeze that fought its way into the Greenhouse kept her headaches and nausea at bay but on the downside, she really was getting fed up from feeling sick every few minutes, especially as she kept dropping whichever Bouncing Bulb she was holding at that moment in time in case she had to run to the nearest empty plant pot.

She was relieved after those two hours were finally over and proceeded to walk with Daphne and Hermione all the way to their Charms' classroom. Once they reached the classroom, they were sad to see that Professor Flitwick had not changed the seating plan and poor Hermione still had to sit next to the youngest Weasley boy. If his mere presence wasn't bad enough thanks to his appalling manners and his lack of knowledge, his attitude towards Hermione had not improved since the incident after their first Transfiguration class nearly two months ago. Not that Hermione minded as much as Ronald wanted, mostly because she didn't care what one annoying boy thought of her. At least, that is what she told Thalia, Daphne and Pansy one evening in the Library, her game plan was to ignore the boy for the rest of her life. Not very useful thought Thalia but hey, who was she to judge?

Thalia's day did significantly improve once Professor Flitwick announced that they would be learning the levitation charm, demonstrating this magic by making objects fly around the room - including Trevor, Neville's ever-wandering toad. Thalia was partnered with Pansy whilst Daphne was partnered with Theo. Flitwick obviously thought that there would be less conflict in his classroom if he put people of the same house next to each other.

"Now don't forget that nice wrist movement we've been practising!" Exclaimed Professor Flitwick. "Swish and flick, remember, swish and flick. And saying the magic words properly is very important, too - never forget Wizard Baruffio, who said 's' instead of 'f' and found himself with a buffalo on his chest." Thalia found the professor to be one of her favourites, not only was charms one of her easier subjects, but he always had a funny anecdote of a story to go with each spell that he taught. She also liked that he was even shorter than she, even if she still had a few years left of growing in comparison to his finished growth.

A small explosion brought her out of her thoughts and back to the present, causing her head to whip around quickly to identify the source of the noise. She need not have worried about an attack or anything that dangerous as the source was none other than Hogwart's pyromaniac Seamus Finnigan who had obviously got impatient with being unable to do the spell. Typical Gryffindors, if they couldn't do it first try or actually had to put effort into it, they seemed to lose interest briskly or become angered.

Ronald was obviously one of the Gryffindors who was angered.

"You do it, then, if you're so clever." Ron snarled at Hermione who had obviously just tried to correct him. It was one of Hermione's downfalls, she was so busy trying to help that she couldn't help but come across as condescending.

Thalia watched in fascination as Hermione rolled up her sleeves and flicked her wand while saying "Wingardium Leviosa!"

The feather rose off the desk on her very first attempt of the spell, much to Thalia's shock and a small amount of jealousy.

Her jealousy increased by a minuscule margin when Professor Flitwick cried "Oh, well done! Everyone see here, Miss Granger has done it!" without even allowing Thalia to try the spell. With a small huff and a glance at Pansy who was even worse in the jealousy department (She never wanted to be worse than anyone at anything), Thalia pointed her wand at her feather and said the spell.

Slowly her feather also rose off her table, perhaps a tad bit faster than Hermione's, probably due to the Slytherin girl's emotions that were also poured into the spell. Much to Thalia's dismay, a wave of nausea broke her concentration causing her feather to fall back to the table before Professor Flitwick could witness her accomplishment. The only reason she managed to get out of the ten-inch essay about the levitation charm and plenty of practice was because Hermione and Pansy vouched for her when Professor Flitwick came to check if anybody else had accomplished the charm.

By the end of the lesson, her waves of nausea had stopped becoming irregular waves and was now continuous and building in severity with every passing moment. She waved Theo away at the end of the lesson, fed up with his hovering, and declared that she was going to walk with Hermione toward the Great Hall for lunch. They were one of the last people to leave the classroom thanks to all of Hermione's extensive notes but as they were stepping into the corridor, just behind Harry and Ron.

"It's no wonder no one can stand her. She's a bloody nightmare, honestly." Harry didn't laugh or respond but it didn't stop Hermione becoming tearful. She pushed passed the boys and rushed off but not before Thalia could see tears rolling down her cheeks. After everything Hermione had said about the redhead, she still cared what people thought of her.

Thalia walked briskly so that she was in front of the boys before turning around to face them with her darkest glare. Both Gryffindor boys paled considerably, Ron's freckles becoming more pronounced and Harry's face taking on a shameful expression. Thalia opened her mouth to spit a fierce retort towards the Weasley boy only to promptly clasp her hand over her mouth as she felt a surge of nausea wash through her. Knowing that she was most likely going to be sick, she rushed in what she thought was the general direction of the girl's bathroom - even if it was most likely going to be Moaning Mrytle's.

She forced open the door and sprinted to the nearest cubicle just in time as her practically non-existent breakfast made a reappearance. She continued to vomit until she was dry heaving and even then, she couldn't stop herself. Tears ran down her face as she struggled to breathe between heaves, Thalia began to panic at the thought of suffocating but it seemed to make things worse. She wasted what little breath that she had gasping out for help once before continuing to struggle for breath.

* * *

It seemed like her plea for help had been heard, slightly, when the head of Moaning Myrtle popped her head through the cubicle wall. The ghost normally made teasing remarks or complained about her own life but for once in her spectral life, she actually did some good. She took a few seconds to assess the scene of the little Slytherin first year who seemed to not be able to stop heaving and then instantly left in search of a teacher who could perhaps help the pitiful first year. Luckily Moaning Mrytle's toilet was in close proximity to the Transfiguration classroom where Professor McGonagall was teaching a class of third years.

"There's a girl dying in the bathroom! A girl dying in the bathroom!" Wailed Moaning Myrtle which caught the Scottish woman's attention immediately.

"What did you say, Mrytle? Which bathroom?"

"A girl is dying in my bathroom!" At her confirmation, the professor quickly rushed out of the room, not bothering to give any instructions to her third years, and followed the ghost back to her bathroom. The Transfiguration teacher quickly observed the scene, hearing the dry heaving and desperate gasps of the unnamed girl, She hurried into the stall only to spot Thalia Nott, her hair was as messy as her cousin's, tears streaming down her face in a never-ending river and her face was a red as the tartan robes the Scottish woman was wearing.

The older women knelt beside the young girl and pulled her hair back from the girl's face with her left hand whilst vanishing the unpleasantness that was in the toilet. Once the foul smell was gone, she placed her hand back into its wand holder and began to rub the small girl's back comfortingly, trying to calm the girl down so that she could take deeper breaths.

"You need to breathe deeply now, Miss Nott, those short breaths will just make you want to be sick even more." It was obvious that the Slytherin first year was trying to calm down but the fact that she was crying wasn't helping matters. McGonagall gently grabbed the girl's face and forced Thalia to look at her.

"It's okay, Miss Nott. Just try to match to match my breathing." They stayed that way for a good five minutes until McGonagall was assured that everything had calmed down with the girl.

"Thank you, Professor." Mumbled Thalia, embarrassment was clear in the way that she lowered her head and her cheeks bloomed red - this time not from lack of oxygen.

The Scottish woman smiled slightly. "It's quite all right, Miss Pot- Nott." Thalia noticed the minor slip up but considering what Professor McGonagall just saw, it wasn't exactly fair or right to bring up her mistake.

"Will you at least tell me how you ended up in such a mess?" Thalia winced internally at the blunt honesty of the Head of Gryffindor, living for two months with snakes made her miss the Gryffindor honesty that her mother used all the time.

"I haven't been feeling brilliant these past few days but today I felt my worst so far. Theo and Harry forced me to take a Pepper-up potion three hours ago in the hospital wing which made my headache go away but my sickness feeling kept coming back. I still have another hour until I can take my next one. Although if I am being honest, Professor, the potion just made me feel worse than I had before in regards to my nausea." She omitted any mentions of added stress caused by Ron and Hermione's argument and put the full blame on the potion just so she didn't have to take it again. It was embarrassing walking around with steam coming out of her ears, for Merlin's sake!

"Well, I must insist that you go to the hospital wing to get checked over by Madame Pomphrey." Stated Professor McGonagall. Thalia's eyes widened in panic at the thought of being at the Nurse's mercy again.

"No!" Exclaimed Thalia before watching the Scottish women raise her eyebrow in question.

Thalia sheepishly smiled at her before beginning to explain her reasoning. "If I go there, she'll make me wait an hour then drink another Pepper-up potion which may make me feel sick again. If I could, could I go back to my dorm and have a shower then a nap? I would feel much better after that." She decided it was desperate measures so she deployed her most innocent look that made her dad fall for her tricks everytime.

One thing she had forgotten was that Professor McGonagall had taught her mother so while Thalia hadn't used the innocent act on her before, her mother had used it hundreds of times.

"Miss Nott, I ask you to not bother using that look again on me, it will do you no good. Blame your mother for that. However, you do pose a good point so I will agree as long as you come to the Halloween feast tonight, you haven't eaten anything all day. I would suggest that you only eat a little tonight though, and no sweets, just to be safe." Thalia couldn't believe how easy it was to get the usually strict woman to agree - she was planning on going to the feast anyway!

"Thank you, Professor, and I apologise for disrupting your lesson." The Professor merely smiled kindly before leading the Slytherin girl out of the bathroom, Thalia quickly shouting a thank you to Myrtle who had helped her. They two females parted ways once they left the bathroom, the older women turning left back towards her classroom to see what chaos had descended in the 20 minutes she had been gone. Meanwhile, Thalia briskly walked down to the Slytherin common room.

Once she reached the entrance she stated the password quickly and sprinted towards her dorm room, all the way trying to pull off her outer robe. She grabbed her pyjamas, shampoo, her de-frizz conditioner and her body wash before jumping into a bath that she'd asked the elves to start running. Somehow, the elves had managed to make the bath water smell faintly like cinnamon which matched perfectly with her vanilla body wash. She spent a good half an hour relaxing in the bath, surprised that her nausea had not made a return at all, but when her skin began to prune, she decided that her nap was long overdue. She emptied her bath, got into her pyjamas and crawled into her canopy bed. It wasn't long before she fell asleep.

* * *

Waking up, Thalia was slightly disorientated, wondering why there were no girls in her dorms yet it was still dark. Was there a party going on somewhere that she didn't remember? Or worse, wasn't invited to?

It took all of five minutes for Thalia to suddenly realise what the time was and what had happened that day. At 18:36 pm, she knew that she was already going to be late for the Halloween Feast so she rushed about, grabbing a new set of robes that hadn't spent a while on a bathroom floor. She didn't want to run for the feast - to be honest, even if she hadn't eaten much that day, she wasn't particularly hungry - she trolled along at a leisurely pace.

As she was nearing the entrance of the dungeons, she heard footsteps that were obviously running. Deciding that maybe she should've gone into Gryffindor after all, she decided to duck into a small alcove and see who was running (or walking quickly) passed her.

Just as she had managed to hide, Professor Quirrell came running past her hiding spot, not bothering to look around him and not looking scared for once either. Why would the teacher who looks terrified at the mere mention of a Vampire, suddenly running somewhere but not looking scared? The Gryffindor in Thalia wanted to go investigate where he had come from to see what he was running from but the Slytherin self-preservation won out and she decided to continue walking towards Great Hall.

She wasn't sure whether to be alert in case the thing that Quirrel had run from was likely to come after to him or to be relaxed because it might have been nothing.

Her question was answered when she exited the dungeons only to hear the thundering of steps and a stench that was worse than her earlier vomit. She froze and slowly began to turn around, like the idiot she was, to see what was behind her - she thought that it was smart to not have her back facing the unknown living being that seemed to have followed her out of the dungeons.

She instantly identified the creature as a mountain troll, remembering all of what Newt Scamander had written about them in his book 'Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them'. He said that they were easily classified by their large height, their thick, tough, grey skin which was covered in horny growths and the fact that it was carrying a huge wooden club helped to cross out any possible friendly creatures. She remembered how they were bad-tempered and were rather partial to humans which froze Thalia to the spot. Thanks to its hard skin, spells were pretty much useless against it and it had a longer reach than her because of the club acting as an extension of its arm. The only possible weakness Thalia could think of was its impossibly small brain that meant that it was extremely stupid. She guessed that was the only thing that had kept her alive because it took so long to register that she was in front of it, it gave her time to get out of her shock and take off running.

She hoped that by taking a short cut up to the second floor, she may lose the Troll that had then decided to chase her. She tried desperately not to scream but as it let out a roar in anger (most likely because its meal was running away from it) she couldn't hold it in any longer. Trolls were on average about twelve foot high, according to Scamander, but this one was only about nine foot meaning that it was most likely a juvenile. Still, in comparison to her four foot nine inches, its legs were easily gaining on her.

Her lungs were burning from lack of oxygen for the second time that day so she decided to dive into the nearest classroom, hoping that the thick door would hold it off until she could hide. She hoped that the troll's sense of smell wasn't good because otherwise, she would have just cornered herself and practically wrapped herself in a bow for the troll to eat.

The classroom she chose was similar to Professor Flitwick's, with the four long benches, two either side of the room and books stacked all over the place. She slammed the door shut and hoped that the troll didn't have the brains to use a doorknob due to the absence of a key. She hurriedly searched the room for a hiding place before spotting a small cupboard in the corner of the room, she ran over there, legs burning with exhaustion, and pushed all of the rolls of parchment onto the floor so that she could squeeze into the cupboard. For once she was grateful that she was so small as she was able to fit into the small gap with relative ease. She left the door open a crack just so she could see what was happening.

It was a good thing that she had rushed because as soon as she shut the cupboard doors, the main classroom door was smashed open by the giant heavy club. So much for using the doorknob.

The troll squeezed through the door, intent on eating her obviously, and began lumbering around the classroom, smashing everything up in the hopes that she would suddenly appear. She held her breath as it drew ever closer to her cupboard, she even shut the door the rest of the way in the hopes that it wouldn't see her peaking out of it. She waited for what seemed like hours, only gasping slightly when the troll roared in frustration and just when it went quiet and she thought that it left, did it strike.

Thalia didn't know how it happened but one minute she was safely hidden in her cupboard, the next minute, the other side of the cupboard had been smashed in, the wooden splinters flying in her direction and cutting her face. She curled into an even smaller ball and waited for the killing blow.

But it never came.

It seemed that the troll had given up trying to find her in that room, yet she wasn't going to risk it. It seemed like she waited years for help to arrive and it came in the forms of Professor Flitwick and Professor McGonagall.

"Oh my, This must've been the path it went on the way to the girl's toilet." Stated Professor Flitwick, his voice a pitch higher than usual, probably in shock.

Thalia didn't see them but determined that it was safe to stumble out of the cupboard.

"Miss Nott! What were you doing in here? Are you okay? Why aren't you in the Great Hall with the rest of the Slytherins?" McGonagall rushed over and began checking the girl for injuries only to freeze when the girl burst into tears and wrapped her arms around the Professor's waist in a tight hug.

"Oh, my child." Sighed Professor McGonagall as she wrapped her arms around the small girl's trembling shoulders. She continued to hold the small child whilst Professor Flitwick fixed the room and returned it to its original state. After the mess was cleared up, the Head of Gryffindor led the first year to one of the benches nearby. Professor Flitwick sat the other side of the girl and they waited patiently for the girl to talk.

It took about twenty minutes for the girl to stop shaking and calm down enough to tell them what happened.

"I had woken up late from the nap that I told you I was going to have, " She began in a small voice, all her self-confidence gone. "I started to walk towards the Great Hall when I heard footsteps so I hide and saw that it was Professor Quirrell." She paused, giving the teachers time to ask any questions.

"Why did you hide?" Asked Professor McGonagall kindly.

"I hide because I didn't know who it was and I wasn't exactly looking like the model student. I didn't want to get told off for not being at the Feast yet." They both nodded in understanding of her point of view. It was a Slytherin way of thinking, being suspicious of everyone and thinking of their image and reputation.

"How did you get here from the dungeons?" Questioned Flitwick as he ribbed a comforting hand up and down her back.

"I kept walking after he passed, but I was a bit suspicious so when I heard heavier footsteps and putrid smell, I turned around to face whatever it was. I wasn't going to have my back to anything potentially dangerous." She paused again, looking to the teachers for approval. When they both nodded, she continued.

"I was in shock but I guess its small brain saved me because, by the time it realised what I was, I had already started running. I thought I could shake it off by going up secret passageways but because it was nearly double my height, it caught up. I hoped that its sense of smell was like its eyesight so I decided to try and hide instead and as you saw, it worked."

"But it nearly didn't!" Exclaimed Professor McGonagall angrily. "I saw how the other side of the cupboard was smashed in, a few inches to the right and you would have been killed!" Thalia paled at her words, thinking she was in trouble.

"20 points for Slytherin for keeping cool in danger and using your smarts instead of your brawn, as your cousin did." Thalia was happy about her gaining points but also curious at the mention of her cousin.

"What did Harry do now?" She groaned, she knew it wasn't Theo, his self-preservation would've kicked in.

"Mr Potter, Mr Weasley and Miss Granger went looking for the troll and when it attacked them, the managed to knock it out."

"Hermione would never go looking for the troll." Thala was confused, what had gone on whilst she had been hiding?

"Well that is what Miss Granger said and considering she is most likely not telling the truth, we took away points for their stupidity but gave them points for sheer dumb luck." Stated McGonagall frostily, obviously she was not happy about the actions of her students but couldn't punish them anymore - for some reason.

"Now Miss Nott, let's get you to your dormitory, I'm sure Mr Nott is worried over his cousin."

"I don't need to go to the hospital wing?" Asked Thalia in a happy tone.

Flitwick looked her over. "You don't seem to be harmed except a few scratches that will heal quickly enough. Just make sure to put that uniform in the wash as it most certainly will have splinters in it."

With that last statement, they escorted her back down to the Slytherin Common Room where she was promptly hugged by a worried Theo, Daphne and Pansy. All of which asked her for a full account of what happened. Millie burst into tears at how close Thalia came to death whilst the rest of the group were as white as a ghost. Even Blaise was extremely pale for once. Theo would barely let go of her to go to sleep and Daphne announced that she would be sleeping next to Thalia that night.

So Thalia finally fell asleep at gone midnight, being hugged to death by Daphne Greengrass and all she could think was how Halloween was just not her Family's night.


	11. Chapter 11

**Sorry for being a lot later than planned, 1. this chapter didn't want to be written, it is mostly fluff, 2. I got a review that put me off writing for a little while but I'm over it now, 3. I spent a while deciding whether or not to include the Quidditch game but decided not to as there is very little my character could've changed, 4. I had exams which were horrible, 5. I've been suffering from Marvel-Mania for the past two weeks due to Captian Marvel being a goddess and 6. I have decided to skip to 4th year after I have finished with the 1st year so I can get the ball rolling a bit more. Those are my excuses and you guys probably didn't read them - I wouldn't have - but I felt better anyway.**

 **Thank you to everyone who has followed, favourited and reviewed, you guys definetly made my day and I tried to respond to everyone when possible. I just want to say a special thank you to a guest by the name of Ryo who nearly made me cry their review was so sweet. Without further ado, enjoy.**

* * *

 **Chapter 11**

19th November 1991.

The weeks following the troll incident caused a lot of inner turmoil for Thalia.

On one hand, it was nice to know that everyone cared for her greatly, this was shown by the fact that they never left her alone, even after she recovered from her illness. If it wasn't Theo hovering whenever they left the dungeons, it was the boys constantly escorting her everywhere, Daphne implementing the group rule for the girls and Harry's constant guilty looks whenever he thought she wasn't looking.

On the other hand, it was frustrating to know that she had lost her privacy. She couldn't even sit in the common room without having someone come over to her to ask her about that bloody troll! The group rule forced the girls to never even go to the toilet alone as if the buddy system in Slytherin wasn't bad enough. Even Felix demanded that he came everywhere with her, not that he'd be able to do much.

There was the other fact that since Harry and Ronald had saved Hermione from that troll, they had become a blossoming friendship meaning that Thalia was unable to spend as much time with her friend. She begrudgingly admitted that it was good for Hermione to get some friends in her own house so that she didn't become a pariah but the fact that the boys leeched off her knowledge without giving her something in return really annoyed Thalia's inner-Slytherin.

One of the best things that happened in those weeks after the troll catastrophe was the howler Thalia's mother sent to Dumbledore. Thalia could still remember the exact wording and the expressions on everyone's faces.

 _*Flashback*_

 _It was a week after the chaos of Halloween and Thalia had sent a detailed letter to her parents, describing everything that occurred - including the things that Hermione had told her. All her mother had replied was;_ **Wait for it.**

 _So, on the 8th of November at around half eight in the morning, whilst everyone was sitting in the Great Hall, Thalia spotted her family Screech owl, Talon, fly towards the teacher's table, straight towards the Headmaster. The owl was attracting a lot of attention due to the owl post time being over and done with about ten minutes beforehand as well as the fact that instead of the usual cream parchment, the bird was carrying a vivid red letter. Thalia and Theo smirked at each other before focusing back on to the Headmaster who was oblivious to the large owl flying towards him._

 _As Talon dropped the letter off in front of Dumbledore, he flew away before even acknowledging the old man to whom he delivered his letter. It was the noise of the howler hitting the table that drew Dumbledore's attention away from Professor Flitwick and he stared at the letter apprehensively as it began to smoke._

 _"Open it, Professor!" Shouted the Weasley twins in synchronisation, drawing the attention of every other student currently eating their breakfast._

 _It seemed as though Dumbledore didn't have a choice as the letter began shouting out a voice that was all too familiar to Thalia._

 _"ALBUS DUMBLEDORE, YOU ARE APPARENTLY ONE OF THE GREATEST WIZARDS OF ALL TIME, DEFEATER OF GRINDLEWALD AND MANY OTHER GREAT NAMES. YET YOU COULDN'T FIGURE OUT THAT THERE WAS A TROLL IN THE SCHOOL UNTIL PROFESSOR STUTTER-FACE FAINTED IN THE GREAT HALL. YOU THEN COULDN'T EVEN FIND THE TROLL UNTIL IT HAD ATTACKED FOUR STUDENTS, THREE COMING CLOSE TO DEATH. IF A GROUP OF THREE FIRST YEARS WERE ABLE TO FIND IT AND DEFEAT IT WITH MAGIC TAUGHT TO THEM THAT DAY THEN I'M SURE YOU WERE PERFECTLY CAPABLE UNLESS YOU DIDN'T WANT YOUR PRISTINE WHITE BEARD GETTING DIRTY."_

 _Thalia and the rest of the Slytherins began to laugh at the fact that Dumbledore still had a serene smile on his face yet they could all tell that it was forced and the annoying twinkle in his eyes had died. Yet the howler wasn't even finished._

 _"THANK YOU, PROFESSOR CAT AND PROFESSOR FLITWICK FOR BEING AMAZING AND FINDING THE TROLL AS QUICKLY AS YOU COULD, ALONG WITH THE FOUR STUDENTS." The shouting suddenly stopped and the howler burst into flames, leaving the charms and transfiguration teachers to try and stop their smiling. The Great Hall fell into heaps of laughter as all the houses enjoyed the thorough tongue lashing that the Headmaster got, even the extremely pro-Dumbledore students couldn't help but laugh._

 _Thalia and Theo laughed the most as they were able to distinguish the voice of Ezekiel Nott in the background, encouraging his wife into her bloodlust._

 _"And people never feared us Notts." Joked Theo which sent the surrounding first years into peals of laughter again._

 _*End of Flashback*_

Thalia smiled dreamily at the mere memory of that morning and the days following it. Luckily for Thalia, her mother had avoided mentioning her name or her involvement with Thalia meaning that it was only a select few that knew it was Charlotte Nott that reprimanded the Headmaster of Hogwarts.

She was abruptly thrown from her thoughts when her curtains surrounding her bed were thrown open and she was launched upon by Daphne and Pansy.

"Happy Birthday Thalia!" Was the war cry they shouted as they began to assault the poor Slytherin girl, even Millie joined in with the shouting - albeit a little bit quieter than the banshees that were still jumping on Thalia's bed.

"Get off, get off me!" Thalia cried as she tried to untangle herself from her duvet in an attempt to flee her bed and her attackers. "It's my birthday, you're supposed to be nice to me."

Her last statement caused the jumping duo to pause and look at each other in faux surprise.

"It's your birthday Thalia?"

"Why ever did you not tell us?"

"We would've got the boys to join us if we had known. In fact, come on Millie, you've got to join in as well."

Thalia screeched as they restarted their bouncing - this time with Millie, luckily it was just on her bed instead of on her.

"Okay, I'm getting up so get off before yo-" CRACK. It seemed that Pansy, Millie and Daphne had landed at the same time causing the bed to break, this led to all the girls tumbling off the bed and onto the floor.

"You hags! Why did you have to break my bed? I don't know how to fix it!" Exclaimed Thalia as she started to hit the other girls with her pillows, annoyed at the fact that she'd have to get it fixed before that night.

"Don't worry Thalia, I'm sure if you ask him nicely, Lux may fix it for you." Pansy innocently looked at Thalia as the latter girl began to blush. Unfortunately, in their dormitory, secrets were difficult to hide leading to her friends all knowing about her crush, aka Lux Farley. She couldn't help herself and all the other girls had agreed that - between his warm hazel eyes, his dark brown almost black hair and his kind nature that is rare in the snake pit - it was very hard not to fancy him a little bit and whilst all the girls knew, they were united in their agreement to keep that knowledge well away from the first year Slytherin boys.

"Don't be ridiculous, Panz, Lux is a boy so he won't be allowed up here."

"What about Gemma?" Questioned Millie quietly, the three other girls turned to her in surprise. "You know, Gemma Farley, she's Lux's younger sister and the prefect that showed us to the dungeons on our first night."

"Yes! Millie, you're a genius." Exclaimed Pansy as she began to pace. "Get in Gemma's good books and become friends with her, that way Lux will notice you." Pansy was practically vibrating with excitement until Daphne spoke.

"Yes," She drawled. "As Gemma's little friend, not as a possible betrothal contract."

Pansy huffed. "Stop spoiling things, Greengrass."

"Hang on a second, I'm 12 years old! That's too young to be thinking of betrothal contracts." Pansy and Daphne both sighed at Thalia's statement.

"Oh, you sweet innocent child-"

"You know I'm older than you, right?" Thalia's question was promptly ignored as the other Slytherin girls continued lecturing her.

"Your parents are pretty modern in their views whereas our parents are more traditional." Pansy picked up the explanation where Daphne left it.

"Meaning that we had the possibility to be betrothed from birth."

"But are you?" All of the girls except Thalia laughed causing her to flush bright red with annoyance. She couldn't understand what was so funny, she knew that none of them had arrangements yet, but they were laughing so much that tears were crawling down their faces. Thalia grabbed her pillow and hit them all around their heads with a disgruntled expression clear on her face.

"Oh Merlin, no!" Exclaimed Pansy, her laughter slowing down enough for her to respond.

"Luckily for us, our parents are going to wait until we are slightly older to see if we have attracted the attention of any boys whilst at school." Stated Millie quietly but relief was poorly hidden in her voice.

Thalia nudged Daphne with a smirk. "Harry may be a half-blood but he is the heir to the Ancient and Most Noble House of Potter. Not that his blood status should make a difference." Thalia looked at her friends, all of which had promptly ignored her last sentence and were busy teasing Daphne. The Greengrass heiress blushed a bright red, marring her porcelain skin.

"Could you image what Draco would say if one of us married Harry bloody Potter." Pansy snorted in an amused but unladylike manner.

"Potter." Sneered Millie in a near perfect imitation of Draco causing the girls to fall into fits of giggles again.

It took them a few minutes before they were calmed down enough to talk again, all of them laying on Daphne's unbroken bed.

"But seriously," Thalia said when everything went quiet. "Who names one of their children Gemma and the other Lux?"

"Who names their children Emmanuel and Ezekiel?" Daphne retorted.

"Who names one of their daughters something relatively normal like Daphne but the other one Astoria?" Countered Pansy.

"Who names all their daughters after flowers?" Inputted Millie.

Both Pansy and Thalia looked defensively towards the shy girl of their group.

"I'll have you know that my Aunt Lily's family also had that tradition."

"Besides, we can all agree that Draco has the worst name of all." All the girls nodded.

Thalia let out a laugh. "Can you remember when he first found out the Hogwarts school motto had his name in it?" They all groaned in unison.

"It's not _never tickle a sleeping Pansy_ , it's _never tickle a sleeping Dragon_." Mimicked Pansy, she even lifted up her chin and copied Draco's facial expression that he would always use.

The Slytherin first years fell back into laughter, even if Thalia felt slightly guilty over making fun of Draco, it was just all too easy to do so. She couldn't resist.

"How dare you insult me," Thalia tried to change her voice to match his but failed spectacularly, causing the others to laugh harder. "Just you wait, my father will hear about this!"

* * *

It took yet another half an hour for the first year girls to descend the stairs leading to the common room, after asking for a Gemma to fix Thalia's bed of course. Thalia still couldn't believe that the Prefect demanded a favour off her on her birthday! Not that she knew it was Thalia's birthday, but still! By then they were all late for breakfast and rushed up to catch the last few minutes of it. Unfortunately, they were so late that just as they reached the Great Hall, the food all disappeared.

Fortunately, Thalia had a very kind and considerate cousin by the name of Theodore, who happened to have saved them all a slice of toast each and Draco had grabbed an apple for each of them. Although, Thalia got the feeling that they were meant for him to eat throughout the day but he graciously gave them up for the birthday girl and her friends.

It meant even more to Thalia because Draco had been in a horrible mood all week because of the fact that Harry had won the first quidditch game of the season. The whole of Slytherin had been upset about it for a few days but Draco had seen it as a personal attack, even though he isn't even on the Slytherin quidditch team. He seemed to have spent this week insulting Harry - if Thalia had to hear one more comment about a frog then she'd scream - and taking out his frustrations on her. It seemed that because Harry was her cousin, she was to blame for Gryffindor winning the match, not to mention the fact that both her parents came to watch the match yet her mother cheered on Harry and Gryffindor. There had been some screaming and cursing in the Slytherin common room the first few days after the match which had only escalated when Charlotte Nott had sent yet another howler but this time it sang Gryffindors praises and congratulated Harry on his win. Draco had to be stopped by Lux and Gemma before he attacked Harry.

"Thank you, birthday boy!" Cheered Thalia to her cousin as she began to devour her toast politely - if that is even possible.

"You are very welcome, birthday girl!" Theo chimed back, his face grinning madly at the astounded looks of the surrounding people. It wasn't very common knowledge that the two cousins were born the same day, even if people did think of them as practically twins - in a way, they were.

Not many people knew that Thalia was born a whole month early due to the news of her grandparents dying - dragon pox waited for no-one. It didn't help that Charlotte Nott was the only person present when Thalia's Aunt (Theo's mother) began her labour. The stress of the entire situation was what caused Charlotte to go into labour shortly after her sister-in-law. But Thalia's mother was unlucky because Thalia showed signs of great stubbornness even as she before being born meaning that, while Theodore graced the world with his presence in the early hours of the morning after a seven-hour labour, poor Charlotte suffered for another twelve hours before Thalia was born. The fact that both women had given birth in the same house - it was too late to move them to St Mungo's - on the same day meant that the cousins had their very magic intertwined in a very similar way to actual twins, they just lacked the actual twin bond and twin magic.

With the birth of both Nott children, it was agreed that they would be brought up together, spending equal amounts of time at each Nott home - even after the death of Aurora Nott, as was written in her will.

It took a very short amount of time for the confusion and rumours to spread around Hogwarts leading to many questions arising. None were more confused than that of Harry James Potter, who didn't even realise it was his cousin's birthday until he was questioned all his fellow Gryffindors.

Unbeknownst to the confusion spreading around the castle, Thalia happily linked arms with Theo as they made their way towards the Transfiguration, they both couldn't wait until lunchtime so that they could celebrate their birthday in the Great Hall. Sadly, they were banned from any parties in the common room due to the high noise levels disrupting the upper years who were focusing on homework.

"So when are you both going to open all your presents?" Questioned Pansy eagerly, she obviously wanted to see how they would react to her presents. In most pureblood family, they had traditions to follow on their birthdays.

The Malfoys nearly always had a ball to which Draco had to open his presents in front of everyone after dinner and thank them individually as they were leaving. The Parkinsons always opened their presents at the time that they were born, even if it was early hours of the morning, it was one of the days that Pansy would willingly wake up early.

Yet the Notts had a different tradition. Due to the circumstances surrounding their births, they would open their presents at midday, perfectly in between both of their times of birth. It allowed Thalia's mother and herself time to mourn Euphemia and Fleamont Potter in the morning before going to meet Theo and his father at the Nott Manor. It was a small family affair with a party for their friends afterwards, normally planned by Thalia's parents who loved parties.

"We'll stick to tradition and open them at lunchtime." Stated Theo to which Thalia nodded in agreement. Even if it was a school day, they weren't going to break their traditions.

"Where are you going to open them all? Surely you should open them in the Slytherin common room, you'll only draw attention to yourself in the Great Hall." Said Daphne. The cousins paused in their walking to look at each other, silently communicating in a way that only they knew.

After a silent moment, they turned back to their friends. "I want to open my presents in the Great Hall so that our friends from other houses can be there as well." Thalia made sure to look dead into the stormy grey eyes of Draco Malfoy. "I want Harry to be there so there needs to be a truce for that short period of time, afterwards you two can go back to trying to get each other expelled."

Draco sneered at the idea at first but noticed Thalia's frosty glare alongside Theo who was scraping a finger across his neck threateningly. Begrudgingly the platinum blond slowly nodded his head before smirking.

"What's in it for me?" Thalia thought for a second then put a hand over Theo's mouth as he was about to move forward, the chances of blackmail were high between those boys and she didn't want to risk anything.

Instead, she smiled sweetly before sliding up to Draco, she reached out with her arm in a caring gesture to caress his hair - a move she knew his mother did which brought him great comfort - and just as he closed his eyes to enjoy the feeling, she grabbed his hair with her hands, hard.

Still smiling in a rottenly sweet way, Thalia leaned towards him and whispered. "How about I don't curse you to the bottom of the Black Lake?" Thalia knew that threatening him loudly in front of a load of people had a low success rate - he didn't want to be seen as weak or a pushover. But if she whispered it to him, he could pretend that she had promised him something instead of threatened him, making him more likely to agree to her plan.

Like the coward he was, he nodded before regaining his lost smirk - Merlin, Thalia missed his proper smile that he used to have before Hogwarts - he leant forward to whisper in her ear and she had to clench her fists to not punch him. That would get her nowhere.

"I know you wouldn't actually do that but I'm sure your mother would so I'll oblige but I expect a favour in return." Thalia wanted to scream, why was she owing so many favours on her birthday? First Gemma, now Draco and she wasn't sure if Harry would want a favour when she asked him about the armistice.

"What favour?" She practically hissed, anger had darkened her usually warm hazel eyes. Unfortunately, Draco wasn't scared of her, only her mother and he knew she couldn't do anything to him without her uncle getting involved.

"Haven't decided yet - I'll tell you after your birthday." Thalia felt like she should make a tally about the number of times Draco has wanted to make her scream. Instead, she took in a deep breath to calm down - according to her mother, Potters were emotional people and were quick to a fit of explosive anger - and nodded her head in agreement, she didn't want to fight on her birthday and they had only just got over the quidditch feud.

They stepped apart, realising that they had gotten extremely close during negotiations and Thalia walked back to her birthday twin, his body was practically vibrating with anticipation - it seemed that while Thalia was quick to anger, Theo built up until he flip off the rails and became violent and Thalia knew that he'd been bottling up for a good five months at least.

"Calm down 'Dor. He's agreed, it's a good thing that he is scared of my mother. Let's enjoy our birthday." Thalia rubbed her hands up and down his arms in a soothing manner, hoping to avoid a fist fight - mostly due to the fact that Draco would get beaten to a pulp and he hadn't decided on her favour yet. She knew it was selfish but she didn't want to have to do all his work for him or trail after him like a lost puppy, she should've been more worried about Theo getting in trouble with his father. She guessed that her self-preservation was coming out due to all the unknown favours she suddenly owed.

The Slytherin group all breathed out a sigh when Theo began to walk with Thalia to Transfiguration, hopefully, they weren't going to be late.

* * *

They had a peaceful day up until lunchtime. As decided, they all sat at the end of the Slytherin table, inviting their friends from other houses over (It was mostly Thalia's friends as Theo stuck to his house the majority of the time). The owls had already delivered all of the presents and whilst there weren't as many as some would get - they didn't have that great of a family - they still had a good amount. Thalia was still on the lookout for Harry and Hermione, at least she hoped that Hermione hadn't decided to skip lunch to work in the Library.

Just as she was about to give up and open her presents, the 'golden trio' arrived at the Great Hall. Without any hesitation or explanation, Thalia leapt up from her seat and walked briskly over to Harry and Hermione - she had no reason to invite Ronald, even if the twins were seated at the Slytherin table. Hermione spotted her and pulled Harry to a stop, unfortunately causing the youngest Weasely to pause as well, the trio turned to face her, Hermione looked happy, Ronald seemed to be annoyed at being stopped from eating whilst Harry looked at Thalia in confusion.

"Harry! Hermione! Do you want to sit at the Slytherin table this lunch?"

Hermione nodded eagerly and began to walk over to the Slytherin table where the majority of people greeted her (Draco was still refusing to talk to a muggle-born and sadly Greg and Vince followed by his example). Meanwhile, Harry had stayed stationary, just looking at Thalia was hurt on his face.

"Why didn't you tell me it was Theo and your birthday today? I didn't get you anything." Thalia's eyes opened wide at the fact that she had forgotten to tell her own cousin about her birthday and because he was a sweetheart, he felt guilty for not getting them anything.

"Harry..." She began quietly as she stepped forward to hug him. He tensed at first but seemed to melt into the hug quickly enough. "You being here to celebrate our birthday with us is enough of a present, we really don't care about gifts." He looked as if he was about to argue so she held a hand up to stop him. "If you really want to, you can buy us both two Christmas presents each to make up for it. You don't even need to worry about Draco, he's agreed to a truce for the day, well, " She paused, pulling a face which Harry chuckled at. "He may last this lunchtime at maximum, he is still upset about Quidditch." She rolled her eyes at that, causing Harry to grin.

"Okay, but I'm getting you double the Christmas presents this year and I'll remember your birthday for next year." They nodded in agreement and started to move towards the Slytherin table, only to be interrupted by a whine.

"Well, what am I supposed to do?" Ronald looked as if his favourite toy had been taken away which made Thalia want to snap at him cruelly but a quick warning glance from Harry kept her at bay.

"Well," Merlin's beard she couldn't believe she was going to say this. "You are welcome to join us as long as you promise to keep the peace. Or you could go sit with Finnigan and Thomas at the Gryffindor table. It is up to you." She waited impatiently, praying to magic itself that he would take the given out and go sit with the other Gryffindors, Draco could handle the twins, Hermione and Harry but Ronald would be the death warrant to an enjoyable afternoon.

"Er, I think I'll go sit with Seamus and Dean. I'll see you later Harry." Thalia internally cheered and led Harry to the crowded end of the Slytherin table. Even Neville was there, quietly talking to Blaise and Millie about plants and animals.

"Can you open your presents now that we are all here?" Complained Pansy who was seated next to Hermione and Daphne, both of which nodded excitedly in agreement.

The cousins sighed in unison, causing everyone to laugh or smile. "I suppose we should, we don't have much time." They'd already spent 20 minutes waiting for everyone to show up and sit down.

They had both decided to open the presents from their parents first before all their friends as that was what they traditionally did, plus they both wanted to see what Thalia's parents had gotten them - Theo's father was rubbish with presents of any kind. So they grabbed the wrapping paper which was covered in snakes and lions (Charlotte was proud to show off her house even when surrounded by snakes) and began to open them with vigour. They both laughed loudly when they saw that inside the first layer of wrapping paper was two presents, the one covered in silver and emerald was obviously from Ezekiel Nott whereas the gold and burgundy wrapping paper was from Thalia's mother.

Fred and George cheered loudly alongside Harry, Blaise and Thalia when they realised that Charlotte had bought Theo and Thalia a basket of products from Zonko's. Theo had been gifted a book full of ancient runes from his uncle whereas Thalia was given a hand-written book full of prank ideas - some of them had ticks next to them which displayed that they had already been completed. Hermione and Pansy had both groaned at the thought of Thalia pulling more pranks, fortunately, Thalia never got caught so most of the blame got shifted onto the Weasely twins, not that they cared.

Theo's father had obviously not wrapped their presents himself as they were too neat and perfect, unlike Thalia's parents. Theo's was covered in emerald wrapping paper whereas Thalia's has silver wrapping paper causing the twins to make a joke about the amount of Slytherin colours so far already. Thalia didn't react when she opened it to see more of the family jewellery, even if it was a gorgeous pendant that contained a large curved trillion cut of black opal at its centre. All of the girls gasped and cooed at the necklace but Thalia was more interested to see what Theo had gotten.

It seemed to take an age for the girls to go back to their seats, allowing Thalia to see what her cousin had got for his birthday. Once she saw it she couldn't help but frown, it was a set of books but instead of anything he was interested in, her uncle had given Theo a book on the genealogy of the Nott family - even though there was a copy in the Nott Manor Library should they wish to read it - and a book about witches. All the boys seemed to be taking the mick out of Theo but Thalia knew that in secret that book would be getting passed around a lot, especially when they got older.

They were useless gifts for a twelve-year-old to have, Thalia didn't even have an opportunity to wear that necklace and Theo wasn't even interested in girls at the moment. In Thalia's eyes anyway.

They continued onwards, beginning to open their friends' presents.

For Theo, Pansy and Daphne had bought him his favourite chocolates and cakes from a French patisserie that the three of them gushed about. Millie had gotten him a picture of himself, Thalia and Harry standing in the Hogwarts courtyard, it had been expanded to fit a frame so that he could either put it on his wall or on his bedside table. Thalia had nearly shed a tear at the sweet thought-out present.

Blaise had given Theo a broom polishing kit that Theo had been dying to have since he first got given his broom. The twins had given him a bag full of stink bombs as well as an obviously handwritten card that would allow him to not be pranked by them, Harry and Hermione joked saying that it was basically a 'get out of jail for free card' except that it revolved around pranks instead. Hermione had given Theo a giant encyclopedia of ancient runes which caused Theo to hug the girl in thanks, both of them blushing a bright red at the action.

Draco had bought Theo a book, saying that his present was linked to Thalia's. Theo opened the wrapping paper (silver and green again) and read the title.

 **How to care for an owl: For Dummies.**

Thalia laughed at how big Theo's eyes had gotten after he read the title. His head twisted between Draco and Thalia, waiting to see if one of them was joking or not. Theo's biggest wish was to get an owl, especially after Thalia's parents had told Theo that his mother's Patronus was an owl - specifically a Boreal owl. Thalia raised her fingers to her lips and whistled loudly, causing everyone in the Great Hall to turn to her just as a young owl flew haphazardly towards them. It landed in front of Theo and he reached out towards the Boreal fledgeling.

"It's a boy just to let you know, but you can name it whatever you want." Theo looked up from the owl and looked at Thalia, tears shining in his eyes, not that he would dare let them fall in front of people.

"Boreas, named after the Greek god of the North wind." Everyone groaned at the predictable name with the exception to Theo, Thalia and Harry - all of which are terrible at naming pets so were laughing at everyone's disgust instead.

Afterwards, Thalia opened the rest of her presents. Pansy had got her a friendship bracelet with silver pansies hanging from the chain, Thalia got told how Pansy had a matching one so that they completed the set. Daphne had gotten Thalia a locket with a picture of her parents on one side and a picture of Theo and Harry on the other, on the front of the locket was a mooncalf which made Thalia hugged Daphne tightly in thanks. Millie had given Thalia a giant blanket which was extremely soft and warm for when the common room or dormitories were really cold - Thalia had taken to complaining about the cold since her illness.

Vincent and Greg had bought them both a massive selection of sweets from Honeyduke's which instantly made their way around the group. Blaise had bought very expensive treats for Felix alongside a lamp which replicated the moon. Neville had bought her and Theo each a sapling of a Wiggentree which he went on to explain that if they were to hold the trunk of the tree, they would be protected from spells. The twins gave her the same present as they gave Theo but instead of the free prank card, they bought her a bouquet of chocolate frogs which made Thalia laugh. Draco then gifted her a box full of peacock quills, all plucked from his own peacocks back at Malfoy Manor meaning that they were imbued with magical properties that he refused to tell her.

Lastly, Theo handed Thalia a small box. The box itself looked similar to a jewellery box and it was made from English oak. But it also had runes etched onto the lid of the box.

"Your dad and I worked on the ruins together, they mean that only you or people you trust can get in it." Thalia was shocked at the amount of work that was put into this present. It would've taken Theo weeks to get the correct ruins as well as engrave them onto the box. "Open it up."

Thalia open it and was instantly confused, it looked exactly like a normal jewellery box, was she just over thinking the gift and it was only for her jewellery? Thalia looked up when she heard Theo laugh loudly.

"The different draws form different landscapes which have an undetectable charm on them, you only need to put the creature into a draw and the environment will change so that it is perfect for that specific creature. ?It doesn't produce food or water so you will have to add those yourself but it was mostly intended for Felix and any other pets you want to gather." Thalia leapt forward and hugged her cousin tightly, a face-splitting grin spread across her face. She grabbed Harry who was sitting next to her the whole time and dragged him into the hug as well.

After a short amount of time, Thalia let go of her cousins, knowing that lunch was about to end and they had charms soon. Theo instructed Boreas to go towards the owlery while the rest of the Slytherins - excluding Draco because that's apparently beneath him - helped Theo and Thalia take their presents back to their dormitories.

Just before they left, they all said goodbye to the Gryffindors who had sat with them. Draco and Harry agreed that the truce was over and that they were back to being arch enemies, much to the distaste of Thalia.

Overall, Thalia thought that her birthday could've gone a lot worse, instead, it got even better when Gemma found out that it was Thalia's birthday so retracted her demand of a favour. That meant that Thalia just had to wait impatiently for Draco to decide what he was going to ask.


	12. Chapter 12

**So... *Crawls out from behind a rock* Long time no see? I am so sorry for not updating sooner but nobody told me A level exams would be that hard and I have zero inspiration to write this chapter. I'm not 100% happy with this but it is the best I could do and I hope the next chapter will be better. Thank you for everyone that has followed, favourited, reviewed and stuck with this story so far! I apoplogise for the wait so without further ado, enjoy!**

* * *

 **Chapter 12**

9th December 1991.

It'd been nearly a month since Thalia and Theodore's birthday and Thalia could gladly admit, without a second of hesitation, that she couldn't wait for the Yuletide holiday. Not only would it be the first Yule at Hogwarts but Harry would also be there to celebrate it with them.

However, there were a few snitches to catch before the Potter-Nott cousins could have a peaceful Yule holiday. One of which was the challenge of telling Harry that they were going staying at Hogwarts. It was no easy decision to make as Thalia's parents wanted to make up for lost time as soon as possible - they were both working tirelessly to transfer the blood wards from Harry's muggle relatives onto Thalia's immediate family (as a way to circumvent her uncle who would most likely love to have the honour of killing Harry Potter) whilst also continuing with their own jobs.

This forced Thalia, Theo and Blaise to wander around the giant castle in an attempt to find their cousin - Blaise was simply there to complete the trio as the Slytherins had been extra strict on their group rule since the troll incident.

"I'm merely stating that it would've been more beneficial if we brought along Daphne as well, it doesn't mean I don't want you with us, Blaise." Thalia sighed and grabbed the bridge of her nose to ward off an oncoming headache. Some days she wished that boys were less obtuse and simply understood the implications that girls were trying to make.

"But why would it have better if Daphne came? I'm more proficient at spell casting than she is!" Blaise seemed to be taking Thalia's comments to heart as he became louder and louder in his protests and arguments. If his mother had seen him then Thalia shuddered to think what the Black Widow would've said to her son, it would most likely be along the lines of hitting him with multiple stinging hexes whilst lecturing in rapid Italian. Nobody except Blaise ever knew what she said and he always refused to translate, stating that he didn't want to remember what she said for a second time.

"It's not the matter of how well you can cast spells! It's the fact that she's a girl. Besides, I'm going to tell Daphne you said that and let us see how you cope then." She raised her head imperiously and continued to walk towards the library where she hoped Harry would be - or at least Hermione would be so then they could ask her where Harry was. One of the many positives about the other houses, unless they had family in Slytherin, they never tried to barter or bargain to see what they could get out of deals. Gryffindors were the worst for not getting the most out of situations - Thalia blamed their stupid honour complex for that.

Whilst she was busy thinking over the usefulness of manipulating everything to get the best deals, Theo and Blaise walked briskly after her and, thanks to her short stature and their long legs, they caught up to her with relative ease.

"Why is it important that she's a girl? You're a girl!" Blaise was obviously trying to gloss over the part of the conversation that may cause a one-sided duel in the common room or just Daphne chucking his books at him whilst chasing him around the common room. He prayed to Merlin himself that she did not learn Italian otherwise she would be uncanny in her similarities to his mother.

"Are you sure about that?"

"I'm also his cousin!"

Thalia and Theo spoke at the exact same time leaving Thalia to glare at him in a perfect imitation of her mother and grandmother before her. Theo grinned sheepishly at the fact that his whisper had been heard; it wasn't the first comment he'd made throughout the entire duration of the conversation, it was just the first one that he'd been caught saying.

Thalia turned her back on her cousin and proceeded to ignore both boys as she continued to walk hastily to the quiet sanctuary that was Hogwarts Library.

"We should've brought Daphne because she has more brain cells than you two put together. Besides, I was hoping to soften the blow with her because, Blaise in the kindest way possible, though you may be good looking, Harry just doesn't like boys in the same way as he does girls. As you would've known if you weren't so obtuse, Harry has never looked at you like he has Daphne."

"You think I'm good looking?" Blaise questioned smugly. Thalia groaned, smacking her forehead before spinning around to face the Italian boy.

"That's what you got from this?" The exasperated look on Thalia's face caused the two Slytherin boys to burst into laughter, only stopping once they realised that Thalia was no longer with them. The hall that they were standing in was empty except for them, there wasn't even any armour for Thalia to hide behind. Just as the boys began to panic, she popped her head out from around the corner and glared at them.

"Well? Are you coming or not?"

She waited impatiently as Theo and Blaise scrambled after her, trying to look as dignified as possible although the relief of finding her was written across their faces. They continued to walk briskly towards the library, leaving the conversation behind them. Thalia had hoped that when she tried to explain her plan that she hadn't slipped up and made them realise that Harry liked Daphne, she could've just picked one of her friends for all they knew. If they found out, it would be disastrous - especially Blaise - the boys would bug Harry to see if it was true which would cause her shy cousin to fall back into his shell and then they'd never get anywhere! No, it was much better to have it kept a secret among girls so that the boys didn't ruin their plans.

They entered the library and politely greeted Madam Pince. Thalia really wanted to ask the old woman if she had seen Harry but she knew it would be hopeless, that woman was just as bad as Hermione. If she was reading a book, nothing could get her attention unless her sixth sense told her that a student was being noisy (aka breathing too heavily) or daring to damage one of her precious books (breathing near it).

If Thalia was more suspicious, she would assume that Dumbledore had specifically chosen Madam Pince to be the librarian in an attempt to dumb her generation down as they'd be deterred away from reading. In fact, it would have to be something that Thalia mentions in her next letter to her mother. Perhaps if her mum could get a place on the board of Governors then she could bring it up and have it fixed because it was ridiculous being so strict towards students as well as the fact that many important or fascinating books are placed in the restricted section where Thalia couldn't get to.

The trio stuck together as they silently browsed the library in search of Harry or Hermione, even Blaise knew not to make much noise in case they draw the attention of Madam Pince. He obviously knew that Thalia would be furious with him should they get thrown out before they could find Harry. She would bring retribution which would make Daphne look like a little kitten if he dared to ruin her plan.

It took them nearly 15 minutes for them to find Harry, who had found a nook in the far corner of the library and was surrounded by a large pile of books. The only reason that they were able to identify them was by noticing the bright orange hair of Ronald Weasley and the giant bush that was Hermione's hair. They wouldn't have noticed Harry at all if not for those two, he was so small that he was able to be hidden behind the pile of books. In fact, Thalia frowned, she wondered exactly why Harry was so small, both his parents were relatively short but it may just be that he has taken after Charlotte Potter in the terms of height instead of James or Lily. Thalia could sympathise with that, with herself being even shorter than Harry and unlikely to have a growth spurt for a good while.

"Hi Harry, Hermione, Ronald," Thalia didn't shorten the ginger boy's name, she wasn't close to him and she doubted that she would ever be due to his lack of manners. "May Theo and I talk to you privately for a moment, Harry?" The boy in question looked up with a start, obviously not noticing their arrival before smiling and nodding in agreement.

The cousins left Blaise to make awkward conversation with Hermione and Ronald whilst they walked slightly away from the nook towards another table. Thalia grinned at the nervous look that spread across Harry's face, there were times that she thought he would make a brilliant Slytherin but this was not one of those times.

"Theo," Thalia was still grinning at Harry's face as panic flashed through his emerald green eyes whilst he watched Theo mutter out a spell. "Don't worry, Harry. We just don't want this conversation to be overheard."

"Oh er, okay." The nervous look still hadn't left Harry's face and his whole body appeared to be coiled up like a spring. "So, what do you want to talk about?"

Theo and Thalia glanced at each other as they gestured towards Harry in a questioning manner. Thalia rolled her eyes once they'd decided on who was going to say what. They hadn't noticed Harry becoming even tenser because of their actions - the gestures towards him reminded the skinny boy of Dudley and his gang when they were deciding who was going to punch him first.

Theo coughed to regain Harry's attention, his mind was obviously elsewhere.

"Harry, do you want the good news or the bad news first?" Theo watched Harry's reactions intently, not wanting to upset his baby cousin (even though technically they weren't cousins).

Harry's mind raced, his heart began to beat faster as panic built up. He had completely blanked out the mention of good news, only focusing on the bad news and what that might possibly entail. Were his aunt and uncle bored of him and going to leave him at the Dursely's forever? Did they think he wasn't trying hard enough in school - he knew that he wasn't as clever as Theo, Thalia and Hermione but he got all of his work done! Albeit normally he was doing it the night before, but he was so distracted with the break-in and Flamel as well as the long hours of Quidditch practise that Oliver kept forcing them to do each week. What if-

"Harry? Harry?! Are you okay?" His cousin's voice snapped him out of his panic and he looked up, not realising that his head and drooped down. He couldn't exactly focus on Thalia's concerned face as his eyesight was blurry, he took off his glasses to clean them only to realise that his eyes were filled unshed tears. He wiped them away quickly, not wanting his new family to see how weak he was - that's what Dudley said he was when Harry cried.

"Oh, Harry." His cousin's murmur was the last thing he heard before he felt thing arms wrap around his chest, causing Harry to tense up for a second. After he realised that it was only Thalia, he relaxed and wrapped his arms tightly around the girl, trying to absorb as much love and affection he could, he almost felt like a starved dog that was suddenly given food for the first time in his life. He started when he came to the sudden conclusion that he practically was a starved dog, not for food but for affection.

"I'd like to hear the bad news first." He didn't even want to know how bad his voice sounded, he was too curious about the information that his cousins were about to tell him.

"Well, "Thalia began, she noticed that her voice was muffled against Harry's thin chest so she pulled her head back and looked up at the boy in question, making sure that she still had contact with him. "I got a letter from my mum last night." She could feel Harry stiffen even more so she rushed to continue.

"She said that we are going to stay at Hogwarts this Yule." That was what she said but what Harry actually heard was:

"ShesaidthatwearegoingtostayatHogwartsthisYule."

Harry blinked in confusion. "What?"

Thalia huffed before repeating what she said at a slower pace.

"But why? What's Yule?" Harry choked out, feeling as if he was going to cry. He knew that he wasn't wanted, he just wished that his cousins weren't suffering because of that, he didn't want them to hate him as well.

"Why? Because Uncle Emmanuel has decided to celebrate Yule this year with the family, meaning that he would have been there."

"Why is that a bad thing?"

Theo sighed, glad that they had - that he had - placed notice-me-not charms and wards around their table. "My father," The way he spat out the word father made Harry frown in confusion. "is not a nice man, Harry. He was part of the group that followed the Dark Lord called the Death Eaters. He would terrorise and possibly even kill muggleborns and muggles alike, all because they don't have 'pure' blood." The blond boy rolled his eyes before becoming serious again. "We have a small possibility that he might try to kill you or at least attack you as you are apparently the reason his lord was defeated. Even if my father managed to avoid Azkaban by pleading the imperius curse, he would still try to take revenge. Or, we think he might, although that would be a stupid thing to do seeming as the Dark Lord is gone."

Harry had a million questions racing through his mind. "What is pureblood? How would he try to kill me? Why would he try to kill me? What's Azkaban? Who else managed to avoid it? Will they try to kill me as well? What's the imperius curse?"

"Calm down, Harry." Stated Thalia as she rubbed a hand reassuringly up and down his arm. "The first answer, a pureblood is someone who has at least 3 generations of magical ancestors. Which means that you are not a pureblood but if you and your children and your grandchildren married purebloods then your family line would remain pure. Currently, you are a half-blood, so you have magical and non-magical ancestors. A muggleborn is someone that has no magical ancestors, although there is a genealogical study that is currently just a theory which states that muggleborns are just descendants of squibs - people who have magical ancestors but don't have any magic."

"The answer to your second and third questions," Theo continued. "Is that my father is an idiot who would love the fame of killing the boy-who-lived. It would make him admired greatly by those Death Eater families. He'd also probably try to either curse you or poison you so we need to teach you the diagnostic charms. You'd have to use them on every letter, present or meal you have to make sure that nobody is trying to harm you."

Harry nodded, keeping quiet when all he wanted to do was scream in frustration. Why was he so stupid that they had to teach him everything? Why is his luck so bad that he trades one family that hates him to another that has a member in it that will try to kill him?

"Your fourth question was what is Azkaban, right?" Questioned Thalia, to which Harry nodded. "Azkaban is the foulest place on Earth where all of the wizarding criminals go. It's in the middle of the North Sea and is a fortress that is surrounded by Dementors." Seeing that Harry was about to pipe in, probably to ask about dementors, Thalia continued. " Dementors are creatures that feed off people's happiness, they can also suck out your soul."

Thalia refrained from saying any more. Newt Scamander didn't write much about them in his books, in fact, it was only books classified as 'dark' that had much detail about them but their origins where so horrifying that Thalia stopped reading about it. Herpo the Foul really was a horrifying man and Thalia was very glad that he was long since dead.

Seeing that Thalia wasn't going to carry on, Theo picked up where she left off. "Many families pleaded innocent and under the imperius curse which is very hard to disprove as it leaves no trace. Before you ask, the imperius curse forces the victim to do whatever the caster tells them to, it takes away all of their free will but it can be fought if the victim has a lot of mental strength or will. So, Thalia will be fine as she's very stubborn." Theo smiled sheepishly. The girl in question was glaring at him (although he could tell that she didn't really mean it).

"I will set Felix onto you." Thalia threatened, even though it was ruined by the boys both laughing at her, obviously not taking her warning seriously - they'd be in for a nasty surprise when they find Felix watching them intently with those large eyes of his. She'd make sure that Felix would follow them around, causing them to become paranoid - it would be sweet justice.

"Back to the original topic at hand, you're welcome to come and stay with us in Slytherin dorms, most Slytherins are going home so we won't be disturbed. We can also do the Yule ritual together! That would be so much fun, we'd have to take pictures to show my parents, I think they're going to start a photo album for you, Harry- " Thalia yelped as she was crushed into a hug by Harry. She froze in surprise at the fact that Harry had initiated the hug first for once but quickly reciprocated. She looked over at Theo, who was smiling at them both, and beckoned him over to them, he slowly moved around the table to encapsulate his smaller cousins into a group hug.

It took a few minutes for them to stop hugging and disentangle themselves, nonetheless, they began their conversation again.

"The good news is that, using a few books on blood magic from the Potter family vault - which are technically banned because of blood magic being classified as dark - my parents have found a way to move the blood wards onto our house so you never have to go back to that evil family again." Harry's eyes opened up in disbelief and shock.

"How?" He spluttered out.

"We can't do it until the summer but all you need to do is say Thalia's house is now your new home and it should shift the blood ward as all of the requirements would have been fulfilled. You've got to properly mean it, though. For something so complex, the requirements are amazingly simple, you just need to share blood with someone that has sacrificed themselves for you, in this case, your dad and Aunt Charlie share blood and you just need to say that that place is your home. Don't do it yet because if you do it now then the blood wards will collapse as they can't be placed around the school which is where you are currently. You have to be at the place you wish to call home." Explained Theo as if he was just regurgitating lines from the books itself.

"We're also going to have an extra protection layer to prevent my uncle from harming you. Basically, we are going to move into Potter Manor, where our parents grew up, and have the blood wards placed there. However, we aren't going to tell Emmanuel so he still thinks we live at Nott House. This will make sure that he is unable to get to your room or possessions because they won't be at Nott House. It also means that the Potter elves will protect you against spells and potions, which Nott elves can't do as my uncle is the head of the Nott family so he controls those elves."

They paused for a minute, letting all that information sink in for Harry.

"Will there be portraits of my parents at Potter Manor?" Harry asked weakly, so much information had been crammed into his head in such little time that his head had begun to throb.

Thalia looked at Theo uncertainly. "I don't know Harry, I think my mum might have had one commissioned but you will have to ask her in your next letter. I know most of our ancestors from the Potter family have their portrait at Potter Manor so you can speak to them anytime you want. Which reminds me, you'll also need to tell her how you would like your room so she can start decorating and what you would like for Yule."

His own room? Presents? He gets to decorate his own room? Talk to his family? Possibly talk to his parents? Harry could've cried in joy and happiness at the simple fact that he'd never have to go back to the Dursely's. Yet, for all of this to happen, he might just die from contentment. How would he even decorate his room? How big would his room be? Would he have to get people Christmas presents? No, they were presents for Yule. How would he get them?

"How do you order gifts or presents from Hogwarts?" Questioned Harry, he didn't want to keep bombarding his cousins with questions so he'd try to work the others out later when he was alone. He didn't particularly want to ask Ron, who would either get really jealous or start ranting about how evil Slytherins were and how you couldn't trust them.

"By owl order!" Thalia's answer didn't seem to clear up Harry's confusion so Theo decided to expand on her useless comment.

"You can send your owl to get catalogues from wizarding shops which you can then order from by pressing your wand against the picture. The money would then come from your vault which has been connected to your magical signature when you first got your wand."

"Oh okay, thank you. Can you also explain the difference between Yule and Christmas, please." Harry was desperate for more knowledge so he doesn't continue to look an idiot. Hermione could also explain it to him but her information would be from a book, and that's if she's not as oblivious as he is. Whereas Ron would probably say that Yule was a stupid tradition that doesn't matter. His family did seem to be one of those that leads towards newer, more muggle traditions.

"Christmas is the muggle Christian tradition which celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ. Whereas, Yule is a pagan holiday that occurs on the Winter Solstice and celebrates the gods, such as Lady Magic. It is mostly focused on dark magic which is because it's the darkest day of the year and it helps renew magic in the land, ready for spring. There are not many books on it in this library but you'll be able to read up about it at Potter Manor over the summer."

Harry couldn't wait until the summer so that he could catch up on all the knowledge that he would have known if the Headmaster hadn't made him live with the Dursely's.

"Now, we've been gone for ages so we better let you get back to work with Hermione and Weasley. Don't forget to send a letter to my mum and don't tell anyone about the blood wards or our plans for the summer, okay?" Harry nodded his head in agreement and promised to reply to his aunt. As he left, Theo began to take down the wards.

He'd just finished removing them all just as Blaise returned from Harry's table.

"You two owe me, I kept trying to have an intellectual conversation with Granger but Weasley kept insulting me! Then they got in an argument so I started reading Harry's work, you two both better tell your mum and aunt that he needs quill lessons. His handwriting is like chicken scratch! Luckily his spelling isn't too bad and nor his grammar so he has some hope. How'd it go anyway? Did you need Daphne in the end?"

The Nott cousins laughed as they left the library, making sure to hold in their giggles until after they stepped foot out of the library.

"It went pretty well and no we didn't need Daphne. Although I'm now not sure whether she would've helped or hindered by distracting him." They all laughed again as they walked towards the dungeons. It could've gone a lot worse, in Thalia's opinion.


End file.
